todd

On Location

Just some thoughts on creating a location-based database.

The first thing I think of when the term "Los Angeles" enters my head is "freeways".

The freeway analogy seems somewhat fitting to what we're trying to accomplish (please direct all "Information Super Highway" comments to the year 1994, please). What I mean to say is that this city is pretty unique in its prolific, often confusing concrete infrastucture. Anyone traveling from one place to another in this town will most likely use the freeway. One problem is: Cell phones and freeways don't mix Although navigation devices might. I've a urge to dissect a car's GPS system right now (Will might have something to say about this, too).

Another issue is the difference between navigating the database remotely and viewing it on the central sever. A large part of concept, of course, is that information becomes relevant to the user according to where they are. Once the database grows to a significant size, however, trying to get a "big picture" from a central server could become overhelming, and indeed, traveling may be an efficient way to "filter" the information into a coherent form.

Embeddeding entities like stories in this manner could also have interesting consequences. Imagine looking at every page of a novel at once, as opposed to picking each page up, like breadcrumbs, in some particular order...