The Baristas have to admit we're suckers for high-tech gadgets. So when we heard an NPR piece a couple of weeks ago about two Montclair guys who'd figured out a cheap way to combine cell phones, Google maps and global position systems, we were intrigued.
Meet the Mologogo guys: Jason Uechi (left) and Chuck Fletcher, two unassuming Montclair dads in their late 30's who've figured out a way for people to track the physical location of their friends using cell phones. It only works on Nextel, so most people use it on cheap Nextel Boost phones, which retail for $50, and which you can buy from Jason and Chuck pre-loaded with the Mologogo software for $100.
The fun of the device is that you log in your own location to a central tracking system, which allows your Mologogo friends to know where you are ... and vice versa. In addition, you can program in all kinds of things you might want locations of: all the local Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts or gas stations, for example. You can use it like a cheap GPS device, pulling up a Google map of your destination if you get lost. And you can also get your e-mail on it. All for $6 a month.
A poor man's Blackberry? "A poor man with good eyesight," Uechi jokes. Fletcher says Mologogo appeals to "geeky experimenter types" from the Facebook generation, people who don't have privacy issues with friends (or the public, if they choose) knowing exactly where they are in real time.
"It's not about being hidden," says Fletcher. "It's about being exposed."
So far, the Mologogo guys are keeping their day jobs in New York City, where they do high-tech graphic design kind of things, and they're only making enough money to cover their expenses. And NJ Transit still laughs at them everytime they call over to see about doing a local transit application with their technology. "There's a 50-50 shot we'll turn it into a real business," Fletcher says. But who knows? When NPR ran the piece, their website was so overwhelmed by the response that it crashed. And after Google's $1.65 billion purchase of You Tube yesterday, anything seems possible.
What's next? How about a Baristanet-Mologogo Halloween map, which would allow you go find the best decorations, haunted houses, and most generous candy dispensers -- and let you see where your friends (or kids) were trick-or-treating in real time? It's altogether possible. Stay tuned.
Comments (20)
I heard that Google is looking to buy them out.
But seriously. Love to read things like this. Good luck to them.
I see sugar but no cawfee!
What a great way for parents to keep track of kids.
Those guys have the best smiles I've ever seen.
Verizon Wireless has Chaperone also, which allows you to track phones on line or on your phone. It's being marketed for parents to stay in touch with kids, but it's the same technology.
I'd sooner ditch the camera, video and music player features of my cellphone for a built-in GPS navigation system to find an address, restaurant, store, gas station, bank, etc.
I also love my VZNavigator, which uses the general GPS features in every phone. it can give me step by step directions where ever I am, and then I can also search locally for things like restaurants, address, and a whole lot of other catagories, all based on your GPS location. It will also give me my long/ lat and speed of travel! I I pay 9.99 for the service. I love showing all of my friends, it's really amazing!
Hey it looks like this is being done with Mologogo too. http://hitch50.com/
It says they're hitchhiking to 50 states in 50 days, and you can see their progress on the website.
Oh yeah? Hitch hiking to Hawaii should be interesting.
I also love my VZNavigator
I didn't realize this was a service available to me, but then again I'm not interested in paying another $10/month in cellphone fees. I guess I'll just keep using Google Maps before I head out the door.
I would expect that this is set-up as a simple P2P (Like Kazaa) in which your user-id and coordinates are transferred to a central host.
In order to get that data to the web-site to the extent that you can watch somebody moving, you would need a lot of transmissions. Which means that you have a lot of SMS (Instant Message) activity.
If I had one of these phones, and wanted to play with mologogo, I would make sure i had unlimited IM/Data on my phone, otherwise you may be in for a fairly large phone bill.
RU486 - Yup, we recommend using the Boost phones as you can get unlimited data for 20 cents a day or an limited plan.
The communication is via http vs SMS but you have it basically correct.
--lemonhead (Chuck Fletcher)
Doh! - That should be unlimited plan, not limited plan.
I think we should purchase these systems for every elected town official and appointed department head (including the consultant variety) in the entire Baristaverse. Then, every month just before the various Town Council Meetings, we can have a kegger and see exactly what these gonifs have been up to.
Hagstrom maps: $2.95. 'Nuff said.
I want GPS so I can find myself.
I can imagine Verizon hiring The Dalai Lama as a spokesman, holding up a MotoRazr and saying "Go find youself, with Verizon Wireless!" ...
I can imagine Verizon hiring The Dalai Lama as a spokesman, holding up a MotoRazr and saying "Go find yourself, with Verizon Wireless!" ...
"I think we should purchase these systems for every elected town official and appointed department head (including the consultant variety) in the entire Baristaverse."
What a great idea! Then we can see where the Montclair employees take their unmarked town provided cars supplied with free town provided gas! Probably places like Sesame Place and other kid destinations, Atlantic City, and places to go hunting.
Of course, what good would that do as they town manager and council in Montclair doesn't CARE what employees do with their town cars!
maybe we could file a lawsuit for misappropriation of funds.
It would be good to track the CFO as she goes from job to job too!