(I'd like to emphasize that this is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine alone and not those of my employer.)
The other week, Google released a service called Latitude which I think is pretty neat. There have been other companies doing location-aware software too, so it's definitely an emerging trend. Within the first day of launch, I had a couple of friends already sharing their location with me. Basically, this program lets all your buddies know where you are (either by computer or cell phone) so that you can meet up, find each other, or whatever. Cool idea huh? Well, I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting stories that come along about how some guy saw his friend at his girlfriend's house and it turned out she was cheating on him.
At first, I thought it was a bit creepy to let people know where I am. Sure, I have a blog and a Facebook page, but I control that content (for the most part). The thing is, you have control over this too. But that's beside the point. I think that even if you are philosophically against this type of thing, it still might be a good idea to share your location with your spouse or another family member. Everyday we hear tragedies about people getting lost, injured, kidnapped, or stranded somewhere. By enabling Latitude, loved ones could find you (or at least your cell phone) even if you were unable to phone them due to injury or worse. If you're the type of person who has an earthquake emergency kit in your home, this service might be perfect for you. Not to mention it'd be a great way for parents to keep tabs on their kids (I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing though.)
Oh, and remember how in spy/FBI/crime movies 5 or 10 years ago it was always such a huge ordeal to try to trace a phone call from a cell phone to determine the location. If services like Latitude are available to consumers now, I can only imagine the technology the government and military are using.
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