My buddy Nate wrote about a new service offered from Yahoo!.
Picture this:
- Your buddy Tom and his wife Shelly are expecting you and your wife Tina to meet them at a resaurant called Acapulco in Alameda at 6:30 pm
- It’s already 5:45 pm, and you know that traffic on 880 is gonna kick your ass at the 238 split.
- You don’t know where Acapulco is.
- You go to Yahoo! Local and type in Acapulco Alameda CA.
- Yahoo! Local spits back the info at you. My, that was easy.
- You really don’t feel like printing out an entire page for just for an address and phone number. So your search for a pen and a Post-It note ensues. You panic and begin to think to yourself, ” WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL MY PENS!!! Screw it! I’ll settle for the crayon that Isabella or Jenna left near my chair. That crayon is now broken in two because I stepped on it. Okay…what the hell can I write on. There’s no paper in the recycling bin because I just took it out, and Isabella’s taken all my Post-It notes and made sticky confetti out of it. OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD…WHY!!???. I know, I’ll write it on my palm! CRAP! Crayon doesn’t write on skin!!!”
- The 238 split taunts you faintly in the distance.
- Right before you slit your wrists (presumably to use the blood to write the address and phone number on your palm), you notice this little link that says Send to Phone. Having a relatively good idea what this does, you click on the link to find a simple form that just asks for a mobile phone number.
- You enter your mobile number. You close your eyes and pray for mercy (or at very least, a quick and painless death).
- Your phone squawks at you, indicating that you have an SMS message.
- You pick up your phone to see that it sent the address and phone number to your phone.
- Harp music and a tabernacle choir sound off, as you realize that all is right with the world.
- You drive like a madman, and at the 238 split, you ask yourself,”What the hell’s so damn fascinating about some asshat changing his tire? C’mon people, let’s get going!!”
- After the demons of the 238 split are just a distant memory, you’re scouring the streets of Alameda, realizing that you’re lost.
- You bring up the SMS message that Yahoo sent you, press Call and are connected to the hostess at Acapulco, who guides you in.
- At 6:29 pm, you pull into the parking lot, wiping that trickle of sweat off of your brow, rejoicing the goodness that is Yahoo!
Another example of something that Google just can’t do (yet).
Technorati Tags: yahoo, yahoovsgoogle, sms, local, tomeppy, kickass
5 responses so far ↓
tomeppy // January 27, 2005 at 1:42 pm
Funny story, but Google does do it… sorta. It does it all from the phone. Just send a txt to GOOGL (that 56645) with what you want to find… like Acapulco Alameda CA.
lantzilla // January 27, 2005 at 2:25 pm
True enough. But the issue becomes this. How much of a pain in the ass will it be to key Acapulco Alameda CA into my phone. Since I use T9 (predictive completion) as the default entry mode, it might not be that easy to input if those text strings are not in its dictionary. I could multitap it, but then I have to change the input mode. Once I switch to multitap, then it is still a pain in the ass to spell out using multitap. I suppose I would use it in a pinch, and if I’m roaming the streets of Alameda, I’d have to pull over to do it. I wouldn’t be suprised if Yahoo! is working on an SMS search capability. Disclaimer: Having said that, I hereby state that I have no official insider knowledge of aforementioned development efforts. It just seems to make sense from a competitive standpoint.
tomeppy // January 27, 2005 at 2:30 pm
Agreed. That’s why I said sorta. I think this feature of yahoo’s is really cool. I have started using T9 too, and found myself using the Google TXT search a lot especially when up at the new house before I had internet access. Anything that allows you to send something to your phone is oool. AT&T offers it now when calling 411 from your mobile phone. If you hit the number 1 when prompted to hear the number, it give you the option of sending you a TXT message with the number. Stuff like this is cool.
Richard Chennault // January 27, 2005 at 4:11 pm
You ludites! You ever hear of car GPS navigation? I just type in the name or phone number of my destination and abra cadabra I am presented with the route, time to destination, alternates routes and a nice voice telling contine on past the 238 interchange and pay no heed to the asshat changing his tire!
But on the up side your cell phone will come in handy for dialing 911 after you’ve been shot traversing the seedier side of Oakland to get your *final* destination. Plus the hospital will know they need to do a gastric lavage for your glutonous like devouring of mexican delectibles.
Party on dude!
lantzilla // January 27, 2005 at 4:28 pm
Congratulations, Rich. You have GPS {insert condecending head-patting here}! We’re all very impressed. Can’t you see how impressed we are?
I agree that GPS rocks. Firstly, however, it’s not always available. What if you were not taking a car that has GPS (like your VW). What if you’re taking public transportation? Secondly, what if you wanted to call ahead to make sure that their enchilada sauce didn’t have chicken stock in it (for your vegitarian friends)? Does GPS dial the number for you?
Additionally, here’s another use case I just thought of. You and Regina happen to be in San Francisco and are hungry for some Thai food. You are looking for a really good restaurant, moderately priced in Potrero Hill. You call me (because apparently I have no life, and I’m always next to a computer). You give me your criteria, I find Thanya & Salee Thai Cusine on 18th Street. It got 4.5 stars, and I could even read some reviews to you. I could just tell it to you, while you search around for a pen or a paper (or slit your wrist). Nah, I just zap it to your phone.
You’re welcome.
Like gas stations in rural Texas after 10 pm, comments are closed.