Chapter 7: Application Outlook 299 The importance of sharing should not be underestimated. Even though many location-aware devices of today are not connected while on the move, primarily focusing on wayfi nding, this is likely to change in the near future, especially once GPS-enabled smart phones, such as 13 the Nokia N95, start to fi nd their way into stores. Once the connec- tivity is there to support the social aspect of location information, many new avenues for applications and services will open up. What the application developers should be aware of, especially where con- nected applications is concerned, is the privacy issue as discussed above. THERE’S ONE IN EVERY CROWD Dave and the boys are in the local pub. As usual, a hard day’s night. That day they had re-installed the pipes for the mayor’s offi ce, which was a dirty job, as the house was Victorian or older. Nothing that a pint or two of bitter wouldn’t cure, though. The new guy, Ritch, had got a new cellphone and was showing it off. He explained that as they had their fi rst-born baby, he wanted to record as much as possible of those early years. So he had got himself a phone with video functions. There he was now in the pub, showing videos of diaper changing. Well, Dave would prefer the darts and the pint, given the choice. Besides, if he had a videophone, what would he fi lm? Now Ritch was explaining something about those location functions. Not for Dave, that, either. Ritch showed how he could query the server to see it there were any interesting people nearby. Interesting people? Probably newbie fathers who wanted to talk diapers, Dave mused. Ritch asked Dave what kind of people he would like to meet. “John Lennon”, Dave quipped, “but he’s probably not on Phoney”. Ritch was not taken aback, and insisted that Dave would try the location functions anyway. Dave fi nally agreed, and asked Ritch to query the nearby people to see if any of them were into betting. Is anybody there? To Dave’s surprise, dozens of id’s showed up instantly in Ritchie’s phone. Dave tried looking at those strangers’ mobile pages. For instance, there was this banker in the Dog and Crown down the street who used the nickname “Thorough- brewed”. That must have been a nod to his main hobbies – pubs and horses. And there was even another B’ham lad who claimed be into races. That guy was on his way home but mentioned a nearby pub as his fave place. Hmmm. Dave preferred talking to people instead of cellphones, but maybe there was something to this location thing. Anyway, that would have to wait, as now it was darts time. Ozzie! Another round for the boys, please. 13 http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1077775