Grindr: Scary Phone App?

You may have heard about the "gay cruising" phone application, Grindr, which "uses GPS technology in your iPhone or BlackBerry and Wi-Fi in your iPod touch or iPad to determine your exact location and instantly connect you with guys in your area." The first thing that I thought, was how scary is it to have strangers knows exactly where you are? Then I saw this article on Gawker about a Washington Examiner reporter using Grindr to find which part of the White House, Pentagon, and Capitol has the most gay people. Anyone can use this application, and my concern is, what if it gets into the wrong hands? I imagine that one using this application is aware that he is exposing himself to the world, and there is a "blocking" capability, however, I still couldn't help but worry about the possible misuse this application could lead to.

On the other hand, the app is immensely popular, and shows the power of mobile phone. The app reached its 500,000th member in February 2010, after launching in early 2009. http://iphone.sys-con.com/node/1299346 With almost 2,000 new users signing up daily, it's clear this app is filling some kind of social need. Just this one app also shows the potential of mobile marketing. If an application targets a specific market, I wonder if there is a way for marketers to advertise via the application.

Shopping Online- Beware of Bad Behavior!

This Time Magazine article, What's Wrong with Online Shopping, discusses common bad behavior that online retailers exhibit. In many cases, there is major discrepancy between what a brick-and-mortar store offers as opposed to the online store. Apparently the retail and online divisions of the same store are often run by completely different groups, which seems like it could lead to confusion over the meaning of a brand. If something is expensive at the store, but a cheap discount item online, what does it mean for the brand? Furthermore, if you go into a store asking for something you saw online and the store doesn't have it, eventually you won't think of the two stores as being the same, further diluting the brand.

This article also brings up potentially unethical behavior on the part of online retailers--for example, hiding true costs until the last minute and using web coupons to compile data about the customer. Overall, it seems that there are no set guidelines for online retailers to follow, and if there are, they're not being followed. Furthermore, what about information privacy? Is it fair to deprive a customer of a deal because he doesn't want to provide personal information? The U.S. government often asks internet companies to provide intelligence for them, so what responsibility do online retailers have towards their customers? I hope that some guidelines are established to protect consumers so they are at the very least, aware of what happens when they shop online- what risks they have, what price discrepancies they may face, and most importantly, who can have access to any information they provide.