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The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
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Daily Blah for... Saturday, June 18, 2005
Million-dollar Ideas: ParKarma™
A semi-regular series of "Hey! Wouldn't it be great if someone made a business out of ..." concepts.
2. ParKarma™
This one has to wait for the widespread implementation of GPS (Global Positioning System) in cellphones. It also won't be much good until you have a critical mass of subscribers in any given area -- say 1 for every 50 people in the neighborhood. It might also work only in car-heavy, pedestrian-heavy cities like London, New York or San Francisco. That given, ParKarma™ is a 100% free subscriber service in which subscribers sign up for text alerts about another kind of GPS (Good Parking Spots), also known as "rockstar parking," near their present location. ParKarma™ knows where a lot of GPS currently are, ParKarma™ knows where you are, and ParKarma™ knows the exact length of your car. The upshot being that whenever you drive along a car-sandwiched street in anxious pursuit of parking, your phone will be able and willing to offer directions to a free spot somewhere near you.
How does ParKarma™ get this knowledge? From its subscribers, of course. We're all wired to notice GPS on crowded streets even when we're not in our cars. (One thing the human brain is really good at -- solving problems, especially spatial problems, long after they've ceased to be problems). You know you're a true San Franciscan when, the saying goes, you cry at the sight of GPS (tears of joy if you're right next to it in your car, tears of rage if someone else just took it, and tears of melancholy if you decided to walk tonight). All a ParKarma™ subscriber has to do to mollify that last emotional moment, to make some use of it, is to press the ParKarma™ button on his cellphone twice -- once at each end of the spot. So ParKarma™ knows how long it is, the time of discovery, and where its nearest subscribers are.
Okay, but what incentive would anyone really have for such a selfless deed? Simple: the more GPS you spot, the more ParKarma™ works for you in return. Everyone has a vested interest in maintaining the system, and their status within it. You wouldn't want your ParKarma™ Points to run out when you most need them -- that horrible sweaty moment on a Saturday night when all that's standing between you and a perfect, on-time date downtown is lack of GPS. So you spot. Since ParKarma™ Points can also be converted back into cash, you could even spend a profitable evening prowling the streets with friends, hunting GPS. It's as good a reason as any to get some fresh air.
How would ParKarma™ Corporation make bread, greenbacks, spondulicks? For one thing, parking garages would kill to get on the system. A lot of garages these days know are set up to know exactly how many spots they have on each floor at any given moment. An empty spot is lost money (and higher prices for us). ParKarma™ could become the lifeblood of the garages, and bring prices down. For another thing, advertisers would love to have their brand names associated with such a service, since consumers would develop a Pavlovian sense of relief when they use it.
Indeed, ParKarma™ is the kind of basic subsystem you could build all sorts of Citysearch and Good Food Guide information on top of. Imagine local restaurants congratulating you on your rockstar parking, and pointing out to the nearest place you and your equally relieved date can go celebrate with a slap-up meal of burger, fries and milkshake. Click here for directions -- only a few extra ParKarma™ Points.
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