February 19, 2003
People Finder

One of the most interesting areas of software development today is the idea of mobile presence — the convergence of light handheld computing devices, WiFi/wireless communications, and identity technology.

An early example of this type of application is People Finder, a package for Java-enabled mobile devices that allows users to see if their friends are nearby, and chat with those that are. This is a neat idea, but I’d like to see it pushed one step further — don’t just tell me if my current friends are nearby, tell me about potential friends that are nearby, based on my interests. Now that would be an interesting piece of social software!

Anyway, as software like this becomes more and more pervasive, expect the idea of spontaneous group-forming to take off in a major way. [Seen on Smart Mobs]

Posted by Jason Lefkowitz at February 19, 2003
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Ant's Eye View is edited by Jason Lefkowitz, a consultant and Web developer in Alexandria, Virginia. Got a question, comment, or concern? Let me hear it!

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