DISQUS

Michael Koby: Gowalla Over Foursquare

  • Dennis Crowley · 2 months ago
    >> But Gowalla does something that Foursquare can’t seem to do (at least for me). When I go to check in, it pulls up surrounding spots based on my GPS or cell signal location. In other words, it actually uses my location to determine where I might be

    Hey Mike - thanks for the feedback. Tell me more about this GPS not working properly with foursquare. Is it not showing anything? Or showing things very far away? Maybe something new for us to take a look at.

    (I'm thinking this may be a bug with there being 2+ Jason's Deli's - and us having the far away one, but not the close one - but just want to double check).

    Anyway, lemme know - thx!

    - @dens
    co-founder, foursquare
  • hawaii · 1 month ago
    Foursquare has great buzz, but Gowalla's got a refined UI and fantastic fit and finish. Foursquare's reliance on street addresses will be its downfall. Gowalla is GPS savvy, and I love that I can create a "spot" that might not even be on a street -- say, a favorite tree within a park, or a lookout point along a trail.

    I reviewed several of these social geolocation services this week, and am happy to see others comparing and thinking about them.

    http://www.hawaiiweblog.com/2009/11/02/geolocation
  • pwb · 1 month ago
    This is a dumb review. FourSquare obviously tries to figure out where you are basd on geo-location as well. If it's' not working, it's probably just a glitch for you. Secondly, the "create location" function is not a big deal since it only happens *once* per location (whereas checkins will happen thousands or millions of times).
  • Michael Koby · 1 month ago
    Congrats! Not only did you bring me to tears with your insult (NOT!) but you've managed to add absolutely NOTHING of value to the discussion.

    1) Yes FourSquare KIND OF tries to figure out where you are, but it's horrible if you're outside the major metropolitan area of your chosen city even a little bit. I live and spend a good chunk of my time in my "home" city witch is about 20 miles WEST of my chosen FourSqaure city. It RARELY pulls up a place that's where I'm at.

    2) It requires far less clicks and far less apps to add a place to Gowalla. Why? Because it uses GPS to add a location, not the address of the location (which if you don't know you have to find if you wish to accurately add a place to FourSquare).

    I've had a far better experience using Gowalla than I have with FourSquare. Your mileage may vary. However, blatant fan-boyism does nothing for the betterment of the apps or the discussion.
  • pwb · 1 month ago
    I prefer Gowalla and reasonable opinions.