What is a check-in?

Recently I was at a restaurant with my wife’s family and decided to use facebook’s new Places feature using my iPhone. Among the people I tagged in the check-in was my 74 year old Father-in-law. The next day I received an e-mail from him asking me what a check-in was. Here’s my response: A check-in is a way to announce to your friends through facebook that you are at a specific geographical location, a bar, a restaurant or an airport. That way if they are at that location they can meet you in person.

This exchange got me thinking about a previous post I wrote about “Social networks will be like air.” The geolocation piece adds a whole dimension to ubiquity. What’s the impact on learning? talent management? Oh..the possibilities! More soon.

Apple Everywhere!

I was amused by how Apple totally took over Technology reporting in the days preceding the iPad launch. A screenshot from the Times Skimmer coverage from Feb-4-2010. Even the stories that weren’t about the iPad, like the Mcmillan disagreement with Amazon were influenced by the release. Oh…and by the way,the page is sponsored by Blackberry! 🙂

p.s. The article by Steve Lohr about Steve Jobs and the Economics of Elitism was really good. Innovation is not all about crowdsourcing or using social media.