The Marauders' Map: Google Style

Earlier this week Google launched software called Latitude that allows cell phone users to share their location with any of their contacts while also seeing their contacts' locations as well. A user's location is judged not only by GPS satellite but also by proximity to mobile phone towers and wireless networks. For privacy reasons, no one can see your location if you do not sign up for the software. Furthermore, if you do sign up for Latitude, you must provide a list of contact names who have permission to see your location. You can share your precise location or just the city you're in, depending on the contact. My question is, is this software really necessary? Is it something you would be interested in? Is Latitude an indication that we have become so lazy in our communicating that we would rather allow people to see our geographic location on a cell phone screen rather than tell them directly? Or, is Latitude a worthwhile software that might make communication easier?

(If you don't get the Harry Potter reference in the title, don't worry about it. I was just trying to be clever.)

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/04/google.latitude/index.html