[Sly Fox]

I know a few of you guys are on Foursquare, but I was wondering if any other FlameFans have given it a try.

I've been dinking around with it for a few days and its been fun. But I could see where you could reach the "What's the point?' threshold fairly quickly. In the meantime, I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

El Scorcho recommended some other GPS-enabled apps to me that I am checking out as well. But Fourquare, Yelp & GoWalla seem to be the hottest properties at the moment. Unfortunately GoWalla isn't on Android yet.

Thought?

[whmatthews]

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[rueful]

I have it. And though I live twenty minutes from St. Louis, where I live is small podunk farm town, so not alot of places to check in. More of my youth play mytown, which Im just about to the whats limit of the amount of fun I can get from that. I know others who love foursquare though, it depends on how much you can use it in your day and who you can compete with.

And whmatthews, that version of foursquare is done, its all about ninesquare now.

[El Scorcho]

I have Foursquare but I don't find myself using it very often. Gowalla really is far better, but Foursquare seems to be more popular.

They're all kind of pointless at the moment, but I just think it's fun. Kevin Rose (who owns and is responsible for digg.com) is an investor in both companies and gave some insight into where these sorts of apps are going.

[youtube]

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[Sly Fox]

Thanks for the video, Scorcho. At some point there is going to be some real commercial potential for these apps if they catch fire.

I also think it is interesting that since most app developers tend to be Applephiles, nearly all new apps hit that platform first even though most of the intended audiences are either on BlackBerry and now Android. You would think that corporations would place their concentration where their greatest marketplace might be instead of where their developers get jazzed.

[El Scorcho]

The Gowalla folks posted (on twitter) pics of them running on a Blackberry the other day. They also posted that they've got 10 Palm Pre's in the office right now.

No mention of Android yet, though I'm sure it's coming.

Apple has really great developer tools for the iPhone. I'm told they've made the barrier to entry extremely low. With the size of the market and the amount of money being made in the iTunes App Store, I'm sure that all factors in to why most apps hit the iPhone first.

I don't think that will last, though.

[ALUmnus]

Thanks for the video, Scorcho. At some point there is going to be some real commercial potential for these apps if they catch fire.

I also think it is interesting that since most app developers tend to be Applephiles, nearly all new apps hit that platform first even though most of the intended audiences are either on BlackBerry and now Android. You would think that corporations would place their concentration where their greatest marketplace might be instead of where their developers get jazzed.

Money helps, too. I can't find the link, but Palm is doing a $1 million giveaway for their new app developer kit launch. Money goes to the most-downloaded paid and free apps.

[phoenix]

I've got Foursquare, but around here it's always "We don't have anything there, do you want to add it?" type stuff. So I'm going to end up being the mayor of most everything around here pretty soon

O'Reilly has a book coming out that shows developers how to develop for all the major smart phones virtually at the same time. Not sure how that works (though I've been tempted to get the book and the Head First guide to iPhone development), but it could be a huge help to developers trying to make their apps available on all platforms.

[Sly Fox]

I keep seeing nationally that Foursquare is getting the most activity. But I'll tell you here in Texas, Gowalla seems to be significantly more active. Yeah, I know Gowalla is Texas-based.

How do they compare in Virginia?

[El Scorcho]

I keep seeing nationally that Foursquare is getting the most activity. But I'll tell you here in Texas, Gowalla seems to be significantly more active. Yeah, I know Gowalla is Texas-based.

How do they compare in Virginia?

It's about the same in VA and NC from what I've seen. Foursquare dominates in terms of activity. I've created most of the spots I've checked in on Gowalla in Lynchburg and even a lot of the ones around the Triangle.

Gowalla is just so much better in so many ways, in my opinion. I'm with Texas on this one. I won't be using Foursquare.

*Disclaimer: This message was posted during LU business hours because I'm currently on vacation.

[Sly Fox]

Great disclaimer.

I haven't decided my preference yet. Gowalla's API could open the floodgates for its explosion much like Twitter a year or so ago. It is rare I create a Gowalla location while I need to create a location on Foursquare nearly all of the time. I'm like Phoenix in Ohio ... the mayor of everything.

[PAmedic]

http://pleaserobme.com/why

keep right on tweeting and twittering and checking in.

job security for me.

[Sly Fox]

The same thing could be said for Facebook, company blogs and any number of other web applications. But the facts of the matter are that your home address is not even listed with Foursquare/Gowalla/Brightkite et al. So the only people who would know where to go to ransack your place are your friends & family. Not everyone has access to your whereabouts anyway. There are privacy features on all apps.

So in short, use common sense and don't friend anyone you don't know unless you want them to have access to your personal info. If your friends are whom you are concerned about burglarizing you, then you have bigger issues than the apps on your phone.

[ATrain]

The same thing could be said for Facebook, company blogs and any number of other web applications. But the facts of the matter are that your home address is not even listed with Foursquare/Gowalla/Brightkite et al. So the only people who would know where to go to ransack your place are your friends & family. Not everyone has access to your whereabouts anyway. There are privacy features on all apps.

So in short, use common sense and don't friend anyone you don't know unless you want them to have access to your personal info. If your friends are whom you are concerned about burglarizing you, then you have bigger issues than the apps on your phone.

And crime data shows that the people most likely to rob and ransack your place are friends and family.

[El Scorcho]

And crime data shows that the people most likely to rob and ransack your place are friends and family.

If anyone in my very narrow privacy lists on Facebook (and even more narrowly on twitter) has the nerve, I'll know exactly where to find them and exact my revenge. I have both services tightly locked down and understand quite well exactly who is seeing what. Anyone with half a brain does the same. I'm not worried.

[Sly Fox]

http://foursquare.com/venue/1300335

I'm just saying ...

[El Scorcho]

http://foursquare.com/venue/1300335

I'm just saying ...

Yeah, I get bummed that Gowalla isn't doing more promo work like this. I'd own a lot of places right now.

[phoenix]

Sly, there's actually someone else in Portsmouth using foursquare. I was ousted as the mayor of Wal-Mart not long ago.

[Sly Fox]

Go figure. For some reason, there has been a recent boost in Foursquare users in Houston to where it is essentially dead even now with Gowalla.

[El Scorcho]

Go figure. For some reason, there has been a recent boost in Foursquare users in Houston to where it is essentially dead even now with Gowalla.

I hear (from someone who would know) that they're actually neck and neck among all of the demographics that count, in spite of Foursquare's perceived dominance.

[Sly Fox]

I started a Sweet 16 spot at Reliant Stadium a couple of days ago and Foursquare has considerably more activity. That surprises me based on the higher activity on Gowalla here in town up until recently.

The new Gowalla iPhone app seems to be generating a great deal of buzz with uploading pics, etc. I just wish they'd fix their Android app. I have it installed and it is so buggy I rarely use it.

[DeathCab4LU]

I have both on my Nexus One but here in Indianapolis I think Foursquare is better.....I just find more places via Foursquare and alot of my friends are on it but both are very nice....has anyone checked out Brightkite? it has some really good rating on the android market place but to me the ui experience is nothing like Foursquare or Gowalla

[Sly Fox]

Brightkite was first to market but it never took off.

I wouldn't base your experience on either app on whether or not there are a lot of locations listed. Just add places and on both apps you are rewarded for helping them populate their worlds.

Foursquare has been having server issues the past few days and that indicates to me that they are in a growth spurt that is overwhelming their servers.

Allegedly Yahoo is looking at buying Foursquare. Frankly I don't see either of the competitors cashing it right now. Although I do have to give Gowalla credit for finding a way to start monetizing already. That's something Twitter has had trouble swinging.

[Sly Fox]

Anybody on here who has a Gowalla app on your phone needs to check-in at a Best Buy or Apple Store post haste. Gowalla's giving away 500 Eye-Fi 4GB cards. I just won one tonight. With only 500 they won't last long.

[phoenix]

I've been in Lynchburg for two and a half weeks and I'm already mayor of one place here. Either Lynchburgers aren't using Foursquare that much or my in-laws eat out WAY too often ...