Katherine's presentation reminded me of an interesting use for GPS technology I came across a year or so ago: Geocaching. Basically, someone hides something, provides GPS coordinates, creates some mystery, and waits for others to find, comment, and leave other things... like a less passive Where's George or Bookcrossing. Looking at the site again after several months, it seems to have really taken off, which reflects well on the amount of trust that has developed among users. I assume that some of these people have purchased GPS devices just for geocaching.
Posted by patrick at April 15, 2003 04:05 PMHave you ever geocached Patrick? I haven't, but I have a good friend in Holland who was into it in WA before he moved. I absolutely dig the idea, mainly for the cracker-jack box idea of getting a surprise and sharing a collective memory of some other common object with not-so-common stories attached to them. Although I think the appeal is the thrill of the hunt.
Posted by: Amanda on April 16, 2003 10:00 PMI've never done it, but I share your fascination. I haven't been willing to buy the gps gear.
When I first found out about it, I was still living in Brooklyn and all of the local caches sounded like such great adventures, in very public, very conspicuous places (even dangerous places that required climbing). Most of the ones in Austin seem more remote, which takes some of the excitement out of it. I actually find the Bookcrossing idea a little more exciting; tracking the incidental histories of things is a great useless use for the web.
Posted by: patrick on April 17, 2003 04:59 PM