Big Brother, Big Brother, Send Latitude on Over

I watched Conspiracy Theory and loved it...but mostly because I'm a Julia Roberts fan (and I like Mel Gibson, too). I am emphatically not a conspiracy theory buff. I think it's a miracle that anything gets accomplished on a daily basis, much less an extensive master plan that has been in the works for years by a select group of...I'll just stop.

New web toy: Google Latitude

In Google's words...

See your friends' locations and status messages and share yours with them. Enjoy Google Latitude on your phone, computer, or both.

Not everyone sees your location - only those you choose to share with. I plan to share my wife's location so I don't worry about her when she's driving late at night through cell phone dead spots - as long as I see the dot moving I know she's not stuck on the side of the road.

For small business owners:

I'm not an advocate for Big Brother-like oversight of your employees. If you don't trust your team is doing their job, then you don't have the right relationship or the right team members. I would not use Google Latitude to track their locations for nefarious purposes.

I can immediately think of the benefits for the construction industry, delivery services (like florists or hot-shots), or anyone with a sales force. If you need to keep up with your team members' locations, you can use Latitude instead of having to guess where they are or distract them while they're trying to do their job. It's also one less distraction for them while they're on the road.

And, of course, it's free. I love Google.

(You think they would have offered me a job by now...maybe I need to do a Google SEO, and then anonymously send an email from an Apps account, and then...)