Originally Posted by
TJKGT If you wanted to go see a favorite band in concert wouldn't you just be inclined to look up their tour dates on their website?
Maybe, but what if it isn't your FAVORITE band? What if you forgot? What if shows got rescheduled and one was added near you?
The point of Google Now is for
Google to keep track of those things
for you, so you don't have to. And Now only notifies you when that info becomes relevant.
Say you were searching for a movie 3 months ago, and watched the trailer for a movie. 3 months later, when it's come out, maybe you've forgotten you liked the trailer and wanted to see the movie, but Google will figure out that the movie was released, and you're within a few miles of a theater that's showing it, and will pop up a notification. Don't care about the movie anymore? Just swipe away the notification and go on with your life. But maybe you say "oh, YEAH, I really want to see this show!" You can click a link and buy your tickets right there if you like.
And for people who travel, Now is
amazing. If your booking confirmation emails were sent to your Google email account, Now can automatically show you pieces of information
as you need them, based on the time and your location. If your plane is delayed, or the gate is changed, you get a notification, and even a map of the airport with walking directions to the new gate if you want. For many airlines, Now will be your electronic boarding pass, automatically. When you arrive, it can show you your rental car reservation (and a map to get there, by foot or by transit). Arrive at your hotel? Your reservation information pops up.
None of this required you to create any calendar appointments, add in any reminders, or any of that. It JUST HAPPENS, because Google was able to scan your confirmation email,
understand it, and turn it into live, usable data for
you.
Of course, all of this can be disabled if you choose, but all of this stuff creates
real value for a lot of people, and that's only going to continue to increase.
So many people talk about "BB/QNX is going to power the Internet Of Things". What do you think
this is? And why do you imagine more "things" will be put on the Internet? It's so they can collect data, and so that data can allow useful things, not just for Google/Apple/Microsoft, but, you know, for YOU, the end-user.
You can't have it both ways: complete privacy, but with the rich, automated, time-and-location-relevant services that are the future (and to a large degree the
current status) of the economy. Most people, having tried it both ways, will see the value that something like Google Now brings, and it's continuing to evolve and add features and functions. Ironically, many people were fine for years as companies collected their data, but now, once that data can actually be made to do useful things for the
user, making the data collection more visible,
now they are freaking out.