[smbwrs]

A mobile app that allows users to create ad-hoc points-of-interest maps, both public and private, based around events.

My inspiration came from spending time at the Brimfield Antique Show this year. My lady wanted an easy way to note specific vendors with items she liked and wanted to revisit, but the iPhone Maps app only let me drop one pin at a time, for some unknown reason. This lead me to imagining a map of the area with dozens of pins dropped by all sorts of people, with tips ("this lady is willing to haggle", "don't get your hopes up, this guy wants twice what his stuff is worth") and recommendations ("avoid the seafood place. trust me."). It's a little Foursquare-y, but less about, "I'm here" and more about, "let me tell you what I've discovered."

I imagine something like this could be used for all sorts of things, from large concerts like Coachella or Lollapalooza to keeping track of where one parked in a parking garage. The idea scales from personal location tracking to a sort of event-focused hive mind of wisdom.

Of course, it is entirely possible this already exists, and I just didn't check the App Store throughly enough. But if it doesn't, it should. I'd use it. We were at the Topsfield Fair last night; it would have been wonderful to know exactly where the maple cotton candy vendor was, or to expect an unbelievable wait before riding the ferris wheel.