I learned about Google Latitude the day it was introduced but didn’t see it as particularly a news-worthy item primarily because other companies have already done this before, that being to "see where your friends are in real time".
What is news-worthy is that privacy advocates have already stated (yelled would actually be more appropriate) that the system it could could be a potential privacy minefield.
I can see the potential benefits of tracking where people are but I can also see its drawbacks.
An example benefit would be for tracking your children. Your child has a smartphone and you want to have an easy way to know where they are. Latitude would serve you well in that respect.
An example drawback: Google knows physically where you are whenever you use it. That’s a bit scary. I don’t see this technology as "cool" or innovative in that respect.
Hopefully people will understand the difference between "cool" and personal privacy when using this service.
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That would be why you have you sign up for it in order for it to work.
Is this an optional service or a universal one. Opt-in or is it just there?
Never mind…