Here’s the thing. I’ve seen people run into objects trying to dial their mobile phone. So it’s hard for me to imagine millions of people suddenly typing in query after query into mobiles in a crowded airport trying to find the lowest price on rental cars. Now I admit that I’m in the United States, not Europe, where texting has become a high art. I’ve watched accomplished “texters” use their phone keyboards with awe, and feel pretty good that they could type queries while ducking ’round luggage carts and toddlers.

But what I would predict might be better is a bit of live, geographically aware feedreading. Probably through a combination of a smart feedreading app and a deployment of GeoRSS, one could obtain real-time RSS data relevant to where they are in space. As one moved from point to point, pre-set queries would search for tags of interest and attach themselves to keys on the front of the users mobile device. The searches could happen over the web, whereby query engines would flush out geographic references in the web data, or with pure XML and deliberate geoRSS encodings. Example:

This set-up-before-you-go element of mobile search is going to be critical to success. When you’re on-the-go, you need the device to do most of the work for you.

while moving
sushi.feed = discover feeds where distance < 500m
button.attach sushi (”nearby sushi”)
if (sushi.feed == null)
button.attach.sushi(”no sushi nearby”)

Methods of feed discovery:

Bluetooth
Wifi
Mobile networks

Types of feed discovery:

Mobile to Mobile - user profile, social networking, friend nearby, roaming consultant
Advertising - offer feeds, coupons, spacially aware marketing, proximity
Physical Resource Location - nearby resources, closest open facility, etc.
News - relevant news delivery, based on feedreader setup.
User defined - email/CRM/office-specific.

As you walk or drive through space, the mobile device needs to discover feeds that meet your specific needs that are specifically and geographically relevant to you, and then, provide them through a set of user interface reductions that you can easily manage while on-the-go.

Added thought: Provide simple interfaces to change the RSS feed output depending on business conditions - when it’s slow, publish a new feed with more coupons. When it’s busy, reel ‘em in. See my post on this “Senseweb for business”

The “Deli” button on the front of my phone could be attached to (map for illustration only)

Sam’s Deli 200m 10-10pm M-S menu Champion’s Deli 240m 10-9pm 7 days 20% off coupon today menu reviews (Y!) Stickhouse Deli Shop 420m 10-10pm M-F menu

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