Location Based Disservices
Posted: June 24th, 2009 | Author: will | Filed under: location | Comments Off
A rather curious way to use my coordinates
Using one of my most prized iPhone apps, MLB At-Bat the other day, I was struck by the above. This was a curious bit of crappiness. I had heard something about this app using location info, but I wasn’t expecting it to use my coordinates against me so literally. Clearly there are *legitimate* contract rules for blackouts and all that hubbub, and I guess having this requirement, if it means live games, is worth it.
Perhaps in my naïvety I’ve been sitting here thinking about using earth-coordinates to enhance some kind of mobile experience, when clearly there is this whole other realm of Location Based Disservices. How many other strange and anachronistic restrictions are out there that could be LEVERAGED in such a way? Certainly there are countless others in sports.
A few obvious ones spring to mind:
• Our iPhone NFL app can force us to watch the Raiders lose every week.
• If we are in Utah, we can be prohibited from downloading episodes of Big Love from the iTunes Mobile store! (second that for the iBeer app).
• Warning: all calls placed from California can not be routed to South Carolina