Add a feature that lets you call a service and specify a location (by street address or lat/long or clicking on a map) and it will call the cell phone of someone who happens to be nearby.
People with location-enabled cell phones (supposedly these will be common shortly) could turn on this feature to let themselves receive these calls (possibly for a discount, or just for the kudos).
You could call to ask how long the line is at a particular event, to find out if they can find something you left behind, to hear what's really going on when news is breaking, to determine if the train has arrived yet, to see if the surf is up, etc..-- egnor, Jan 12 2003 Seems like a good use for this... http://www.halfbake...0_22Reality_20TV_22...actually. [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] ...for example http://www.streetma...40&Y=406350&A=Y&Z=3 [hippo, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Amusing UK Place Names http://www.jump-aro...atures/place-names/ [hippo, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] ....as long as it didn't count against MY cell phone minutes...-- Marassa, Jan 12 2003 Maybe you could attach some kind of "awards" or credits for those who take the calls, although I can't see how the phone company's going to make any money that way. Great idea anyway. (plus sign)-- snarfyguy, Jan 12 2003 Another alternative is to have friends.-- bungston, Jan 12 2003 The phone company could make money by charging callers more than it pays the people who take calls.
You wouldn't know nobody's there, just that nobody who happens to subscribe to this service is there.
Not everyone has friends on every streetcorner.-- egnor, Jan 12 2003 I like this idea, although I anticipate that as it approaches pub closing time there would be a fair number of calls along the lines of "Excuse me, are you in the vicinity of Nob End? [see link] - <giggle, snicker, guffaw>".-- hippo, Jan 13 2003 /Another alternative is to have friends//
Bit redundant, posting that here, isn't it?
This would be great for advertising a particular venue. Every time someone with an enabled phone walks past, they receive a call inviting them in.-- egbert, Jan 13 2003 It seems like this could create a very efficient architecture for acquiring a taxi.
Today, I was on the bus and the driver missed someone waiting at a stop. This seemed like the perfect technology that would have let that person flag down the bus after it had already passed, or to at least give the driver a piece of their mind. (An acquaintance of mine was missed by a bus, and she immediately called the bus company's complaint line on her cell. All this allowed her to do was to be chastized by the person answering the phone about standing too far from the stop's signpost.)-- beland, May 28 2003 random, halfbakery