By Phil Hollows
It's time again to rewind the week and look back at some of the stories you may have missed—this week's theme is "location, location, location."
Because even though we live in such an always-on, connected world, where we are physically still really matters.
Where you live. Where you work. Where you play.
Maybe where you take off on a relaxing summer vacation … on a beach somewhere, or exploring a cool new city?
I'm getting a little wistful here, maybe it's jealousy over all these kids getting started with their summer vacations!
Without further ado, let's take a look at a couple of the news items that caught my eye this week.
Free Wi-Fi at Airports a Growing Trend
I'm not joking when I say I like airports. I think they're really interesting places. Most of us who've been around awhile and done some traveling can tell stories about emotional moments at airports. I've laughed and cried at airports.
I also love the people at the airports—it's such great people watching. I always want to know, where are these people going? Who are they? Everyone you see at the airport has a purpose, no one's there "just because."
That said, when I travel on business, I sometimes like to take a break from people-watching and get some work done. That's why I was happy to see a trend-piece from the New York Times, "More Airports Adopt Free Wi-Fi."
According to the story, "Of the nation's 30 busiest airports, 12 offer all-free Internet, up from nine in 2007, according to Boingo Wireless, a leading provider of airport wireless services."
I hope the trend continues, because plane fare has gotten expensive enough without having to pay $10.95 to check your email—especially considering that cell service in airports can sometimes be so bad it's hard to get your own hotspot to work correctly.
Coming Change to iOS8 May Make it Harder for Companies to Scrape iPhone Data
If you carry a smartphone, there's a good chance a number of entities are watching your every move when you're out and about.
According to an article in Qartz:
"In shopping malls, for instance, a firm called Euclid Analytics collects, in its own words, 'the presence of the device, its signal strength, its manufacturer (Apple, Samsung, etc.), and a unique identifier known as its Media Access Control (MAC) address.' In London last year, one start-up installed a dozen recycling bins that sniffed MAC addresses from passers-by, effectively tracking people through the area via their phones."
And while some claim the data collected isn't identifiable, privacy experts beg to differ.
But a change in the way iOS operates would mean your next iPhone will randomize your MAC address whenever it's searching for a network. That would mean the company that's collecting data from your phone won't recognize you next time you visit the mall.
It may be a small comfort, but I'll take it.
GoPro Going Public—and Aiming to Become a Media Company
GoPro cameras are all about going where you go, with an adventurous flair—some of the best GoPro videos come from skydivers, back country skiiers, and surfers. And an update to its IPO filing that came in this week suggests it may end up being worth $2.77 billion, according to latimes.com.
The article about GoPro also outlined the company's plan to become more than just a camera maker, but a full-fledged media company. As the prospectus from GoPro says, " … we believe that the growing adoption of our capture devices and the engaging content they enable, position GoPro to become an exciting new media company."
It's an interesting idea, as a huge part of GoPro's success has always been its content strategy (business and marketing personality Peter Shankman wrote about the effectiveness of this strategy way back in 2012). We're looking forward to seeing where it goes!
So that's the news of the week! Comment below and tell me what you think about these location-based news items.
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