Is all this tracking really needed?
It's being termed a "social mapping service," but this new fangled wireless mobility technology [1], detailed in an article over at TechWeb, that can tell you where your friends are, and vice versa, seems a bit intrusive to me. Call me old fashioned, but I don't think the emerging technology that uses maps to locate friends, family, coworkers and maybe even the boss, is necessary. The new service from Loopt [2], can even alert you when friends are near. What happened to old fashion trust and communication? While there are privacy controls and security features so you can remain 'invisible' to certain people on the service, I just don't really see the necessity for such people-tracking technology. Maybe it's more for the 14-year-old crowd trying to find each other in the mall on Saturday so they can meet up at the Starbucks kiosk. What do you think? Do you see such value in location and tracking applications tied to mobile devices?

On a more positive note, I would like to wish all our readers a warm, wonderful and joyous Thanksgiving. -Judy [3]