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Apple Patent Application Details Temporary Location-Specific iPhone Applications
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I would never consciously use it either- but that's the point- it pops in or out of your phone and you don't have to think about it.
My point exactly. iAd is what the data mining is for and iAd is a for profit venture.
I am not paranoid, but it does not mean they are not watching you!
This type of technology is not a bad thing.
I was addressing the issues and problems that it may create.
People are to willing to give up information about themselves. I bet you would freak if you knew the amount of information that is being collected on you.
You might think different if the Walmart greeter marked down every time you entered the store, noted what you bought and sold that information to KMart, your doctor, Insurance company. You get the idea... Just somethings to think about is all I am saying.
What's Facebook? Should I be frightened? 
You sound a little paranoid. The recent Facebook uproar get you frightened?[/QUOTE]
You sound a little paranoid. The recent Facebook uproar get you frightened?[/QUOTE]
- Bathroom: Tell you how many stalls are free so you don't have to do the awkward "walk out" after you go in and find them all occupied!
yep, and to expand it a bit, you can put your name down to the queue and when the bathroom is free, it'll ring and let you know, so you don't have to keep staring at the bathroom door.
I know that companies are already tracking the sites I visit, etc. I've been on the World Wide Web since 1993, first running NCSA Mosaic on a UNIX box; I've done web development before in a previous life.
There is a price for content and connectivity, and yes, it might be information. Am I concerned? Certainly, but let's face it, I give up far more private information when I sign a mortgage or apply for a new credit card.
In any case, it'll be interesting to see how iAd develops and whether or not my router will block the ads (I use a DNS cache-poisoning script that updates itself three times a day). It actually does a pretty good job blocking AdMob ads on my iPod touch. Admittedly, I don't have the same protection once I step out the front door.
Of course, I always have the option of wiping my iPod touch clean and selling it at the flea market.
If you want to be worried, worry about Google. 98% of their revenue is generated from Google AdWords (I'm a GOOG shareholder, I read the SEC filings). At least Apple is a hardware company and they are not driven to maximize revenue from iAd. Apple uses software, services and content to drive sales of its high-margin hardware. The iAd system is there to entice developers to write content/make apps for Apple's devices.
Google is basically the Internet's largest ad agency. If you're worried about data mining, this is the company to worry around. Data mining is baked into Google's DNA, it's the entire reason for its existence. Larry, Sergey, and Eric don't know squat about social networks, but they sure know a lot about analyzing data. Almost every decision made at Google is based on quantitative data analysis. There's nothing touchy-feely about Google. Remember, these are the guys serving up ads in your webmail (another reason to use a standalone IMAP mail client and forgo the webmail interface).
WiFi signal strength
My biggest issue with this is signal strength. Imagine turning down a street full of restaurants and business that all took advantage of this feature. Depending on signal strength I could have 10, 20 or 30 temporary location specific iphone apps pop up. This sounds messy to me. I mean what order would they appear on my screen? What if I've already maxed out the number of apps I can have on my iPhone, what happens to the temp ones? The devil is in the details.
My biggest issue with this is signal strength. Imagine turning down a street full of restaurants and business that all took advantage of this feature. Depending on signal strength I could have 10, 20 or 30 temporary location specific iphone apps pop up. This sounds messy to me. I mean what order would they appear on my screen? What if I've already maxed out the number of apps I can have on my iPhone, what happens to the temp ones? The devil is in the details.
These patent applications are a general proof-of-concept. They don't have two show the line-by-line algorithm how the device pinpoints 3-meter accuracy and relevance.
Exact implementation is irrelevant to the US Patent Office.
Oh, and by the way, Apple (and other companies) file many patents that never reach the general marketplace. There is no requirement to implement any given patent idea.
This is a "why didn't I think of that?" idea. It would be funny to walk into a mall and suddenly have 200 icons appear on the Springboard
seriously wifi signal dont reach that far, specially on a mobile device with low gain... even if you see the networks you must be quite close to be able to connect to the hotspot...
at maximum i say that it would be able to be in connect range up to 4 restaurants at the same time... which could open a selection menu...
I wouldn't be so quick to say this. Imagine being in a strange city, not San Fransisco that is a different kind of strange
. Having a device you could use that would push information about your immediate area as you explored would be really nice. If you will remember Google was going to do something like this in San Fransisco with the city wide WiFi system they where going to install at no cost to the city. It didn't happen because of endless demands and negotiations by the Mayor and city council Google finally walked out. One of the demands would have required Google to supply free wireless devices to the homeless. If you look at what Google was going to do it would have been a real sweet system, and this was how Google was going to pay for it location specific push advertising. As you walked around the city every time you accessed your wireless device the WiFi's APRSystem would note your location and then push advertising for the street you where on, you would have been able to see menus for eateries in your immediate area, sales brochures and merchandise in retail stores with in eyeball shot. In addition to this it would have alerted, and directed you to places, and sites of interest. You would have had a personal guide to San Fransisco. The business community in the city where really excited about this, but the Socialist city government only saw, in Google, deep pockets with money they wanted to spend.
Again, this is proof-of-concept. There is no requirement for Apple to implement any or all of the features mentioned in this patent application.
Apple could require blank space. Apple temporarily push some Page 1 apps to the next page. Apple could load these on the next page with available space. Apple could overlap the icons over the existing ones. Apple could give you a choice on how you want to handle the situation.
The point is: THIS IS NOT A FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM. You don't need to worry about such matters because it doesn't exist.
It's just a frigging patent application. As mentioned over and over in this forum, Apple does not take every single patent to market.
Business community in the city where really excited about this, but the Socialist city government only saw, in Google, deep pockets with money they wanted to spend.[/QUOTE]
I worked as a civil servant many years ago. I can tell if it is good for the local area, the local government will waste the opportunity.
I have seen so many good projects and efforts wasted by the incompetence of local municipalities.
I worked as a civil servant many years ago. I can tell if it is good for the local area, the local government will waste the opportunity.
I have seen so many good projects and efforts wasted by the incompetence of local municipalities.
Google provides free WiFi to the City of Mountain View. They do not push specific ads to users.I wouldn't be so quick to say this. Imagine being in a strange city, not San Fransisco that is a different kind of strange
If you will remember Google was going to do something like this in San Fransisco with the city wide WiFi system they where going to install at no cost to the city. It didn't happen because of endless demands and negotiations by the Mayor and city council Google finally walked out. One of the demands was Google was to supply free wireless devices to the homeless. If you look at what Google was going to do it would have been a real sweet system, and this was how Google was going to pay for it location specific push advertising. As you walked around the city every time you accessed your wireless device the WiFi's APRSystem would note your location and then push advertising for the street you where on, you would have been able to see menus for eateries in your immediate area, sales brochures and merchandise in retail stores with in eyeball shot. In addition to this it would have alerted, and directed you to places, and sites of interest. You would have had a personal guide to San Fransisco. The business community in the city where really excited about this, but the Socialist city government only saw, in Google, deep pockets with money they wanted to spend.
As a matter of fact, it's not an ad-driven service at all. Sure, maybe they are tracking who is visiting which site while you are on the free WiFi network, but the network does not present any ads.