I have lived all over. I have lived in and around KCMO and Detroit and Albany, NY and Chicago and Portland, OR and even Maine. I was thinking about my time in two different neighborhoods, Ravenswood (chicago) and Portland's NW side. Both shared one distinct problem, high demand for on street parking.
I can't tell you how many times I forget where I parked my car. Everyday I parked in a different spot on a different street somewhere within a one mile radius of my apartment. You might be questioning if parking was that limited? The answer is yes. There are literally more cars than available street parking in those areas. I remember sometimes driving for an hour hoping to find a spot somewhere close to home. As weeks of this routine would go by I'd end up getting confused over which day I parked where.
I distinctly remember calling in "sick" to my new boss at HP because I couldn't find my car on one awful day. I was in a distinct panic that morning, not because I thought my car was stolen but because I was so late for work. I searched for more than an hour. After deciding to go block by block in a grid-scanning manner I ended up at a coffee shop completely broken. I sat down. I called my boss. I said, "dude, I can't find my car." He laughed and asked if it was stolen. I told him I just couldn't remember where I parked it. The conversation ended with him telling me to make in when I could.
I never felt more immature in my adult life. I felt like one of "those" kids rolling into class with the ole "dog ate my homework" spiel. "Uh, hi boss...that's right, I lost my car...no I am not drunk."
So long story short, I am suggesting something that probably exists already, a mapping feature that pins the location of your parked car. You park, you push pin the location and you walk happily home knowing that you'll never call your boss again with such a silly first world problem.
Ok, it's gotta exist right? There is probably no way it doesn't exist on iphone app's but who cares because as you might know each day a new burger joint opens somewhere. Burgers? Burgers?! Hey, that's not a new idea. You didn't invent burgers...yeah, yeah, yeah, in the words of my eighth grade gym coach, "it don't matta." All that matters is tone, flavor and timing.
So what the heck would make this "dude, where's my car" app so special? First off it would post an image of the location to anyone who you give permission, like your boss. In the rare case that your dog eats your iphone you can at least email him from your neighbor's ipad and ask, where's my car? He will tell you where your car is parked, that you are a dork and to get to work as fast as possible.
Next defining value moment. The app would tie in with local marketing schemes and programs. You tell the cloud where your car is and maybe just maybe if you happen to find yourself parking a block from PePak's Pastry Shop you might get an invite to sample a Fritter and get fifty cents off your favorite four dollar latte. PePak would be able to access your general demographic and psychographic what-nots giving the Pepak family greater insight about their community of customers.
So, forget Groupon, think DriveOn. Everyday you find your car. Every day you get to work on time. Everyday you have the chance at a great local deal.
Speaking of time, over time DriveOn could show your parking life visually and begin to develop intelligence around parking availability, time of day and more. It could tie into existing parking systems such as malls and airports becoming your one stop shop for knowing "where" on what day. (Where= where's my car, where's best deals, where's likely spot etc)
CL
;)
I can't tell you how many times I forget where I parked my car. Everyday I parked in a different spot on a different street somewhere within a one mile radius of my apartment. You might be questioning if parking was that limited? The answer is yes. There are literally more cars than available street parking in those areas. I remember sometimes driving for an hour hoping to find a spot somewhere close to home. As weeks of this routine would go by I'd end up getting confused over which day I parked where.
I distinctly remember calling in "sick" to my new boss at HP because I couldn't find my car on one awful day. I was in a distinct panic that morning, not because I thought my car was stolen but because I was so late for work. I searched for more than an hour. After deciding to go block by block in a grid-scanning manner I ended up at a coffee shop completely broken. I sat down. I called my boss. I said, "dude, I can't find my car." He laughed and asked if it was stolen. I told him I just couldn't remember where I parked it. The conversation ended with him telling me to make in when I could.
I never felt more immature in my adult life. I felt like one of "those" kids rolling into class with the ole "dog ate my homework" spiel. "Uh, hi boss...that's right, I lost my car...no I am not drunk."
So long story short, I am suggesting something that probably exists already, a mapping feature that pins the location of your parked car. You park, you push pin the location and you walk happily home knowing that you'll never call your boss again with such a silly first world problem.
Ok, it's gotta exist right? There is probably no way it doesn't exist on iphone app's but who cares because as you might know each day a new burger joint opens somewhere. Burgers? Burgers?! Hey, that's not a new idea. You didn't invent burgers...yeah, yeah, yeah, in the words of my eighth grade gym coach, "it don't matta." All that matters is tone, flavor and timing.
So what the heck would make this "dude, where's my car" app so special? First off it would post an image of the location to anyone who you give permission, like your boss. In the rare case that your dog eats your iphone you can at least email him from your neighbor's ipad and ask, where's my car? He will tell you where your car is parked, that you are a dork and to get to work as fast as possible.
Next defining value moment. The app would tie in with local marketing schemes and programs. You tell the cloud where your car is and maybe just maybe if you happen to find yourself parking a block from PePak's Pastry Shop you might get an invite to sample a Fritter and get fifty cents off your favorite four dollar latte. PePak would be able to access your general demographic and psychographic what-nots giving the Pepak family greater insight about their community of customers.
So, forget Groupon, think DriveOn. Everyday you find your car. Every day you get to work on time. Everyday you have the chance at a great local deal.
Speaking of time, over time DriveOn could show your parking life visually and begin to develop intelligence around parking availability, time of day and more. It could tie into existing parking systems such as malls and airports becoming your one stop shop for knowing "where" on what day. (Where= where's my car, where's best deals, where's likely spot etc)
CL
;)
Comments