iStanford
First if all, I think that 99% of the techie amazingness that the Stanford students, Kayvon Beykpour , Aaron Wassermanand, and five of their friends, came up with for their iPhone app is really damn cool. Having scads of information at your fingertips is still something that I’m amazed by daily and have yet to take it for granted (except when I watch an older film and someone is in danger and I yell at the screen, “Use your cell phone, dumbass!” causing my husband to shake his head at me and sigh disappointedly).
That being said, yeesh is all I’ve got for the bit that lets students locate each other’s physical locations. That’s some technology that would be fun (and useful!) for collegiate games of hide-and-seek, or for finding a missing co-ed. Other than that, I see only creepy uses, ranging from mild heebie-jeebie factors (the creepy guy in Susie’s chem lab knows where she is right now) to full-blown freaking out and calling the police (burglary, stalking, etc.).
Not to be a technophobic Luddite, but I think the iPhone does enough crap already. As far as I can tell, it can do everything but deliver a baby. It could probably land a plane if it had to (or at least tell you how). Just as there is some point at which the deck of cards has been too shuffled, isn’t there also a point at which technology gets less beneficial?
Further Reading:
Terriblyclever Designs
Stanford U. Unveils iPhone Application That Will Soon Let Students Locate Each Other
Can iStanford Take on Facebook Mobile?
iStanford Upgrade
Posted by Alexa Harrington
I couldn’t agree with you more. This seems like its going to open up a whole new can of worms.. I did however come up with a way to make it worth while for those of us who are constantly trying to track certain students down.
Completely creepy and I hope it never happens, but I truly think the iPhone (or an incarnation of it) is going to become a fixture on campuses everywhere. Possibly even replacing what we old folks know as “the laptop.”
No!! I just got used to having a laptop around! I do realize that someday we’ll all some super-duper iPhone-ish gadget to carry with us wherever we go, but for now I’m good with a standard cell and a laptop. I’m never the first girl on the hi-tech bandwagon, but I must admit that I lerv the laptop (as opposed to its clunky desktop cousin).
–Alexa