Location: The Places Where We Linger

Reacting to a crowd of spectators crowded around an amusement arcade game called Pachinko in Japan, Nokia’s Jan Chipchase makes this statement on his blog:

The everyday places that we linger will start to take on a new relevance with the widespread adoption of devices equipped with proximate wireless connectivity – Bluetooth, RFID, WiFi, …, when the simple act of lingering creates opportunities for meaningful data exchange. And we all know what data exchange leads to.

Right now it’s a long way from being seamless, but when it does it will change the sociability of spaces. For every culture, a pachinko parlour crowd.

While we spend a lot of time thinking about location based services which react to our geographic position – there’s little discussion about creating services that react to our time spent in one spot.

Jan Chipchase – Future Perfect: The Small Crowd That Lingers