- From: Erik Wilde <dret@berkeley.edu>
- Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:37:06 -0700
- To: public-geolocation@w3.org
- CC: "Thomson, Martin" <Martin.Thomson@andrew.com>
thanks, martin. time to get the geolocation API to the point where it's not just a GPS API. if it should just be a GPS API (and right now it is just this), it should be called GPS API. if it shall be a geolocation API, it should not just focus on GPS. one thing i'd like to add to martin's very good list: Thomson, Martin wrote: > - manual entry (user types lat/long or picks a point on a map) > - SkyHook (as seen in Mozilla Labs Geode) > - autonomous GPS on the device (slow, but effective) > - SUPL SET-initiated positioning (an open mobile alliance standard) > - HELD (network-based location using the model developed by the IETF; disclaimer: I am one of the authors of this document) > - DHCP (host configuration with the option from RFC 3825; I'd recommend against this, but it's an option nonetheless) > - 3GPP mobile originated location request using control plane positioning (see ETSI TS 123.271) > - methods based on public cell-tower location databases (there are plenty of these on the 'net) > - QR code or RFID scans (with location by value or reference) i am still rooting for the fact that location is a much richer concept than the current API design reflects. so why would i even have to enter lat/long or pick a point on a map? i want to be able to say i am "at home" or "in the office" or "on the road" or just "away", and for those who i care about that makes sense, for others it doesn't, but i don't care. which would be one of the points of the whole exercise: if i can use geolocation in a way that matches human categories, i have better privacy, but can also much better make sense of location on a social level. anyway, i am glad to see the discussion being brought back to a level beyond attribute naming, i think there are still many questions to be discussed for a true geolocation API. cheers, erik wilde tel:+1-510-6432253 - fax:+1-510-6425814 dret@berkeley.edu - http://dret.net/netdret UC Berkeley - School of Information (ISchool)
Received on Tuesday, 21 October 2008 06:37:47 UTC