Friday, September 6, 2013

take on the subway sleeping app

when I saw a Gizmodo article about a new app designed to wake you before your subway stop, I wondered 'where the hell were you five years ago??"   
I can't quite explain the technology but the MetroNap app will buzz your phone a few minutes before your stop, so you don't end up in Coney Island at 3AM after a night of boozing, which is something that has happened to me more than once.
 
One thing I'd wish they'd add.
 
some kind of buzzer that would go off if some ahole falls asleep and leans on me.  There really is nothing more disgusting than some fleabag resting his lice covered head on your shoulder.  There should be an Iphone setting that zaps somebody in their sack if they so much as come within 6 inches of me
 
 
what I don't quite get is how a phone would know where in the NY transit system you are, in order to figure out how far you are from another stop.  There are obviously many miles of trainline overground and there are increasing number of stations with WiFi but how will this work when you are travelling from Pacific Street down to Bay Ridge Parkway and there isn't a WiFi signal in sight

1 comment:

  1. Hi, I'm the developer of MetroNap App. You set the station you start from and from there on the app knows where you are by tracking the movements of the train, to detect stops. Furthermore the app also knows how long it usually takes to get from stop A to stop B. All this information combined the app will keep track of where you are.
    Tobias

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