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Re: wireless geolocation

2017-06-07 18:41:39
On Wed, Jun 07, 2017 at 10:09:39PM -0000, John Levine wrote:
How many wifi networks regularly move from one continent to another?
You can probably count them on your fingers.  We're not even a
rounding error, and we're not paying customers.  Why should Maxmind et
al. spend money to build a mechanism to deal with us and networks like
ours?

Well, it's said that conference/standards travellers often drop large
sums of money at many fine dining establishments.  And no one seems to
have a problem when concierges get referral fees for suggesting
restaurants to their clients.  There may be more money in getting this
geolocation thing as right as possible than you think.

It is interesting though that if someone picks up a phone and says,
"Hey Samantha[1], find a nice restaurant near me", and it does, (a) some
people think it's creepy, and (b) some people think it's somehow dirty
that the company that created "Samantha" might get paid for the
referral just like a hotel concierge.

[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/

Or does it cross the line when "Samantha" remembers that you've been
asking her questions about molecular gastronomy and tailors the
responses she sends back to you based on that?

It's really fascinating to me that somehow it's OK when a Nordstrum's
sales associate does basic research on his or her clients, or keeps a
notes in their notebooks of their client's likes and dislikes, and the
dates of their wedding anniversary, relative's birthdays, and suggests
gifts for their client.  Somehow *that*'s not creepy (in fact, some
find it flattering, or makes them feel important), but when a computer
does it, it's creep city....

                                        - Ted

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