Comments on: A blog I read, Stephen’s Lighthouse, ha …

By: eso3070

eso3070 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:47:55 +0000

haha very true! Actually, I saw the GPS magic in action this past weekend. Much more impressive than I anticipated. Not sure if it’s just a smart phone only thing (that might be something services like ChaCha still have over it). It IS possible to find the closest pizza joint to your location, and with GPS you don’t need to know your address. I still say that ChaCha has a lot of benefits even to those with smart phones and GPS. They’re biggest competitor is google, not GPS, and they have components that are not seen anywhere else. Like their conversational attribute, which makes the possibilities for questions limitless.

Anyways, they don’t seem to be going under any time soon:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/award-winning-chacha-fastest-growing-mobile/story.aspx?guid={F459982D-3DF8-4E7E-8CA2-5959E88D77B9}&dist=hppr

By: Danielle

Danielle — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:30:08 +0000

Interesting that, although you admit to not being familiar with GPS, you seem certain it couldn’t tell you what business is located where. These are what is known as points of interest or waypoints. Most have waypoints built in.

So, I have found a site to address this:

“Tracking Basics Even the cheapest handheld GPS devices have basic tracking functionality, providing the user with longitudinal and latitudinal data, speed, bearing, routes and waypoints. Most also provide location-specific recreational data such as sunrise/sunset times and optimal hunting and fishing periods.”

From: http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/id;960423579;fp;4;fpid;792452

Cheers for the discussion.

By: eso3070

eso3070 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:03:15 +0000

Have to admit, I’m not too familiar with GPS. But I’m pretty sure you couldn’t ask it where the closest Starbucks is, or where there’s a cafe with free wi-fi access, both questions I have gotten answered by ChaCha.
I agree about the accuracy, all I know is that guides have to pass tests to work and that they pay more to better guides.
Thanks for the great discussion! My bet is that ChaCha is only going up, but you probably could have guessed that already.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:15:29 +0000

Okay, you make a good point about the pricing structure being free except for mobile phone tariffs. MThat would make it a lot more accessible to people who have and use mobiles. However I really do think a GPS could answer the question of where to go for coffee as any GPS (even the old one I use) can tell you where the nearest cafe/ pub/ supermarket is.

I’d also question the source. How well are the guides trained? Maybe they are capable of answering a basic question such as ‘what is Neil Diamond’s birthday’, but I would not trust them to answer anything more involved. A newspaper article confirms what I thought–that low-paid, part-time guides are likely to provide inconsistent service: http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page_Full.asp?content=19310

It will be interesting to keep an eye out for what becomes of ChaCha.

By: eso3070

eso3070 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:15:27 +0000

well, I am definitely capable of looking up the answers or asking a librarian. But the idea is that ChaCha makes it easier, all you need is your cell phone. Sure, you would have to give a location for them to find the closest cup of coffee (should have put that example in context) but a GPS could not answer that question. The only way ChaCha costs money is if you don’t have unlimited texting on your cell plan. Obviously, I would go to a library and do my own research for something important but ChaCha is more for the everyday quick questions.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:37:16 +0000

Hmm. I don’t think so. I think that most libraries could answer a simple biographical question. I saw “How old is Neil Diamond” on the Chacha site, as a sample question. Who would be silly enough to spend good money on a question that could be looked up, (a) at a library, (b) by a friend, or (c) by oneself, in seconds?

If you were to ask “Where is the closest place to get a cup of coffee” of Chacha, don’t you think they would need more contextual information? Such as “where in the world are you?” Wouldn’t it be better to get yourself a GPS or find the right resources on the web to answer your question, if you think the library cannot tell you the answer?

By: eso3070

eso3070 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:50:16 +0000

What better incentive to be accurate than to pay people? The guides must be getting paid because they are definitely still working there and no business could last long if they weren’t paying their workers. I think Cha Cha has a good thing going.. not every librarian knows the answer to “Why did Britney shave her head?” and other services require too much formatting and short codes to actually ask anything interesting, like “Where is the closest place to get a cup of coffee?” or “What year was Pulp Fiction released?” I wish them well, go Cha Cha!