I do not like what the fuck is going on here

Have you seen some of these commercials with the new apps for the iPhone?

(Disclaimer: I do not own, or aspire to own, an iPhone or any other i-Item.)

Some of them are kind of cool. Obviously, I like the one that suggests restaurants for you. Anything that directs me to food in a more efficient manner, I approve of that thing.

The one I keep seeing, though, is the once that tells you using GPS where your friends are. Does anyone else find that to be incredibly disconcerting? I mean, I know full-well that so long as I carry my cell phone "they" can see me (whether "they" be the government, the cell phone companies, or the Molemen). I know that, but it would be incredibly creepy to know that all my friends know where I am at all moments.

Remarkably, this really didn't catch my eye until now. As Tardbang pointed out over Thanksgiving (I think it was then...), Boost! mobile offered this same service years ago. With the commercials of people wearing the big blow-up monochrome suits made to resemble the dots on the screen indicating friend positioning. Of course, iPhones are seemingly much more widely-used than is Boost! mobile.

As with most things, I see this as indicative of a wider trend. This trend started with the AIM away message. It's become completely commonplace for everyone to know where their friends are at any given time. I mean, it's definitely useful. By putting "gym" on my away message, people not only know that I am not home, but that I probably can't receive a phone call. I think that's where the utility ends, though, and creepiness begins. I don't want them to know that I'm walking home from class, and I'm just passing Chipotle on Kirkwood. That's creepy, and I will have nothing to do with it.

What's more is I think it's kind of weird that Apple finds it to be a selling point. Do that many people disagree with me and think it's an improvement in their life for their friends to know where they are at all times?

I bet there are books about this, but I have not read any of them. In America it seems like the sphere encompassing what is "private" is shrinking at an alarming rate. Just look at this blog. Figure, twenty (or even two hundred) years ago, this would be in the form of a confidential journal or diary. But now, I for some reason feel it necessary to broadcast my feelings to the world (or at least the infinitesimal part of it that for some reason reads my blog).

Furthermore, we not only have AIM and GChat statuses, but now we have Facebook statuses and Facebook chat, too. And Facebook to begin with, for that matter. It really matters what people put on their profiles. People painstakingly arrange their favorite movies, books, and quotes in order to selectively project their private lives in order to show what they believe to be their best image. Things that would normally only become apparent through actual human contact (gasp!) are now as available as the phone number for the local Chinese take-out. Having my physical, geographical location this accessible is going way too far for my tastes...

Privacy is dead, or dying, at least in the short-term and probably the long-term. I guess I'm a little reactionary for being creeped out.