Give it a Whrrl

As an avid traveler and being a journey type of person, the following post on TechCrunch appealed to me. Much more important however is how this adds significant context and extends our ability to discover more relevant things, or in this case, places.

Whrrl, Still Trying To Find Its Way In Location, Focuses On “Footstreams”

from TechCrunch by MG Siegler

“Much of the web is based around clickstreams. The latest version of Whrrl, a location-based application by Pelago, wants to take that concept into the real world, with “footstreams.”

Up until this point, since the launch of version 2 of its iPhone app earlier this year, Whrrl’s focus has been on storytelling. That is, allowing users to tag places they’re at with stories and pictures. But the latest version shifts the focus towards creating a digital record of all the places you go in the real world, Pelago CEO Jeff Holden tells us. “It’s about places, not location,” he says.

While the distinction between the two may not be that obvious at first, it becomes more clear when Holden continues to talk about how the core idea of Whrrl is discovery. That is to say, it’s not about playing a game, or knowing where your friends are at any given time (which rivals Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt are all about), instead it’s about building up communities and location data surrounding places. And that leads to another major addition for the site, with “Societies.” Basically, this is a feature that looks at where you go in the real world and serves up other places you might like to “discover” based on other Whrrl users who are members of similar Societies as you.”

via www.google.co.nz

My primary premise and passion around The Snowflake Effect is the vision of getting things "just right" as in just the right stuff for just the right people at just the right time in just the right context and so on. In the case of whrrl and other location-based applications, they are addressing the "just the right place" aspect of the equation and augmenting our ability to discover places that we will be delighted with.

I've long cited music recommender technology such as Pandora, Last.fm, Slacker and Spotify as examples of how it is already possible to experience the power of augmented discovery. These sites have an almost scary ability to find more and more songs that are truly just right, just for you, just at that moment. Now we are beginning to see examples such as whrll which enable this same kind of just right discovery, but of places, not music.

As has been my recommendation for these music discovery examples, the best way—really the only way—I know of to understand them and to determine their value is to try them. I make the same recommendation here with whrrl and other geo-location-based systems. Try them for 30 days and see what you think. And don't forget to share your experience with the rest of us so we can benefit from your unique discoveries.

--Wayne

“Much of the web is based around clickstreams. The latest version of Whrrl, a location-based application by Pelago, wants to take that concept into the real world, with “footstreams.”

Up until this point, since the launch of version 2 of its iPhone app earlier this year, Whrrl’s focus has been on storytelling. That is, allowing users to tag places they’re at with stories and pictures. But the latest version shifts the focus towards creating a digital record of all the places you go in the real world, Pelago CEO Jeff Holden tells us. “It’s about places, not location,” he says.

While the distinction between the two may not be that obvious at first, it becomes more clear when Holden continues to talk about how the core idea of Whrrl is discovery. That is to say, it’s not about playing a game, or knowing where your friends are at any given time (which rivals Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt are all about), instead it’s about building up communities and location data surrounding places. And that leads to another major addition for the site, with “Societies.” Basically, this is a feature that looks at where you go in the real world and serves up other places you might like to “discover” based on other Whrrl users who are members of similar Societies as you.”

Comments

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