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49 Comments
- jordantneff, on 07/07/2009, -6/+31Let me sum up the article:
"Wah wah wah, I just found out my city made an iPhone app but I'm on [insert non-AT&T provider], wah wah wah, Apple sucks and Steve Jobs is a big poo-head!" - dmoffitt, on 07/07/2009, -4/+21It's not as if the iPhone app is the ONLY way to file one, I'm glad to hear government at any level is making it easier for citizens to directly communicate. I'd rather it be an open platform that ANY government agency at any level could use but I don't see a problem with the idea, in fact, I wish NY would do the same for complaining about, say, the horrible potholes we have.
- blaxbb, on 07/07/2009, -1/+12wouldn't a mobile website be just as effective?
- freshgrease, on 07/07/2009, -4/+11Yes.
- joaquine, on 07/07/2009, -0/+7311 in San Francisco the way to go... more cities should adopt this...
- nahsrocketeer75, on 07/06/2009, -12/+19This is too ridiculous for words: Let's say they somehow manage to attract 250 filed complaints via the iPhone app (I doubt they'll get 25). For a $25,000 investment, that would be $100 per filing just for the app. Heck, you could do it cheaper by sending taxi cabs out to fetch people and bringing them to the appropriate city agency for face-to-face meetings.
- PxCxG, on 07/07/2009, -0/+6More likely they'll get far more complaints than they could ever hope to handle.
- PxCxG, on 07/07/2009, -0/+6So now iphone users can get priority access to submit their complaints to be completely ignored by incompetent city employees?
- spriggig, on 07/07/2009, -0/+5How about a city website with a map. Click on a location on the map and report:
Barking dogs
Pot Holes
Broken street lamps
Vandalized signs
Graffiti
etc. - Macgyrl64, on 07/07/2009, -1/+5I would hedge a good bet this is just the concept platform and others will soon follow. Albeit readers above have better ideas, namely the 311 or perhaps the application is web based and any platform can use it. The City merely mentioned the iPhone because it is the sexier of phones, and yes that's a biased statement.
- Protonz, on 07/07/2009, -0/+4Here's an idea, if you have a problem with your neighbor, try talking to them like a civilized person instead of threatening them from a distance.
- raleel, on 07/07/2009, -1/+5really, folks. the iphone has about 1% of the world market share of cell phones (~10-15% of the smartphone market, which has ~12% of the cell phone market). that means that about 1% of Boston has an iphone. I'm sure the number is much higher, but this assumption means that there are about 40k iphones in Boston. even if 1% of those folks file a complaint, that's still almost twice the proposed 250 in the first post. And if it feeds it directly into an automated system, that cost is really quite nice.
and who's to say this application isn't just an iphone formatted web page interface. - IphtashuFitz, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3True, but it sure makes for one hell of an easy way to file online. My girlfriend lives in Boston and both of us have iPhones so chances are we'll both end up with it on our phone eventually. There have been plenty of times when we're walking around that we see potholes and other things that we'd like to report, but we've never bothered to figure out how to do it for various reasons. Having an app on the phone where you can snap a photo and have it automatically send the photo and your location to the proper people will undoubtedly make this a very popular app for folks who live or work in the city.
- motivatedguy, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3Your idiot neighbor hasn't cut his grass in three weeks.... Yeah, there's an app for that.
- edstate, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3NYC has 311... which was great until Bloomberg chocked it full of every damn city offering they come up with:
"Press 1 for English... Press 4 if your car was towed... Press 5 if you have questions about the property tax rebate... Press 2 if you're interested in the "City Arts Program"... Press 4 if you want to enquire about school closings... etc... etc... etc..."
AND, once you get an operator, they can't really help you with much. They always have to transfer you to a "specialist".
All in all, a 311 call to let the city know about a broken traffic light, or a broken fire hydrant takes about 30 minutes. - daVinci1980, on 07/07/2009, -8/+11Making government more accessible should never be frowned upon. Quit whinging that it's currently only for one platform. Do people make the same complaint that 311 service is only available for those 'privileged few' who can afford phones?
Verily.
(Note that Boston doesn't actually have 311, but they do have a phone number to call in all generic complaints (617-635-4500)). - WorldGroove, on 07/07/2009, -1/+4Not that I think this is a bad idea, but regarding your point:
There are *many* ways to get access to a device that allows you to make a phone-call. Anyone who isn't straight-up homeless has access to a phone-call capable device. At the minimum you can find one of the now-rarely-seen pay-phones in North America, or you can go to a FedEx that you can pay for 30mins on their PCs with internet access & install Skype and there ya go.
Now, an iPhone is a different story. I don't even think half the people in North America own iPhones. - AdeleMor, on 07/06/2009, -1/+3haha, very well put.
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2I can see it now...
"Hi, there's this ***** driving like a douche in a white crown vic... his plate is 1-8-0-0-g-r-a-b-d-u-i" - robbob, on 07/07/2009, -3/+5Using your same scenario, this would become cheaper over time and as other cities came on board, their initial investment would be significantly cheaper.
More important, cities would get more filings by easing the process - edstate, on 07/07/2009, -1/+3"push" versus "get"
- theuniversal, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2Yes, and cheaper, and available to more people.And I think the number of iPhone users who want a dedicated app on their phone for the sole purpose of reporting problems to the city of Boston is probably about 3. I love my iPhone, but this doesn't make sense.
- Swivelstick, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2email?
- mehan, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2what the ***** is up with all these "apps" lately which should just be a (mobile) webpage?
- EmmanuelGoldstn, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2You forgot :
Smog
Momma cookin' breakfast with hog - AgmLauncher, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1All this does is show that the iPhone is the more capable communication platform, minority share or not. No reason not to take advantage of it.
- TrancePhreak, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2WinMo's 395870984709387 billion apps would like a word with you.
- max1001, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2yay, more way to widen the economic gap!
- IphtashuFitz, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2Unfortunately talking to potholes, broken lights, etc. doesn't work very well. When I drove into Boston over the weekend I drove through an intersection right on Mass. Ave. that had a broken streetlight - somebody had literally run into the pole and knocked it over. All the remaining lights were flashing red so it made the intersection a freaking nightmare. I bet the city hall would have been flooded with pics of the broken traffic light had this app been available last weekend.
- edstate, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1How do you like your Government now, sir?
- enjourni, on 07/08/2009, -0/+1Hmmm. People who own and master technology having an advantage over those who don't? Shocking!
Nothing to do with the iPhone, nothing to do with Apple. Better service + more options = better community. - PopcornDave, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2Oh no, they're very efficient at spending it, usually too efficient. It's just the way they end up spending it that's usually a problem.
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1I love it so much, but the *****'s a money loser.
- linagee, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1Who stops the whiney complaints? Does anyone screen things, or do they just get printed up in a huge pile on the mayor's desk?
- IphtashuFitz, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1Not sexy enough.
- IphtashuFitz, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1True, but the nice thing about the app is that you don't have to deal with the voicemail jail that a 311 call is likely to incur.... "Press 1 if you speak Swahili, Press 2 if you speak Klingon, ..." Something where you can quickly snap a photo and let the camera do the rest of the work (sending the photo and location to whoever can actually do something about the problem) makes it a hell of a lot more easier for people. My girlfriend lives in Boston and a couple weekends ago we were walking around one evening and came upon a homeless person who was unconscious & sprawled out on the sidewalk. My girlfriend called 911 and I was surprised at how much information she had to provide in an emergency situation. Aside from the location and the problem they also wanted her phone number (don't 911 operators already get that?) a detailed description of the area & the person we were calling about (he was right at an intersection with full signage so a blind person would have tripped over him) and one or two other questions I can't recall. If it took that much effort for an emergency 911 call then calling 311 to report a pothole would likely be an exercise in futility that a lot of people would tire of very quickly. The automated nature of an app like this likely makes the chances of continued use more than the 311 service.
I do agree that this is likely a concept that will be showing up in other cities if it works well in Boston. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into a more generic app. I'd hate to have to download an app for every big city I ever travel to. Since iPhones and many others have GPS it'd be easy for a "universal" app to figure out where you are and know where to send reports, or tell you how to contact the proper people if the city doesn't support the app. - WoollyMittens, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1And forum trolls like yourself.
- mehan, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1i don't see how that applies to this particular case, for one.
- newsboys, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1@lightningrod220 30 million phones is only 10% of the population of the US, and I bet that 30 million is world-wide iPhone sales. This recent article says it is 30 million *including* the iPod touch (http://games.venturebeat.com/2009/03/17/iphone-30- ... ), and another article I found from 2008 said they sold 13 million iPhones total - not just domestically in the US.
The truth is, a very minute percent of Americans have an iPhone, but nearly everyone in the U.S. has access to a regular phone through some means.
Therefore, 311 service complaints =/= iPhone app complaints - Trick07, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1Well of course the smug crowd who will turn a blind eye to all the money and resources will love this app. It's not like City Hall has not studied the right anal-retentive-busy-body crowd that would use this program anyway. City Hall knew exactly who to go to!
Stand by for numerous complaints over McDonald's, Wal*Mart shoppers, Hummer drivers and Microsoft Windows 7 users.... - 1310nm, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1It is troubling that governments are trending toward such trendy pitfalls, such as iPhone apps and Twitter instead of open standards methods of communicating. Bureaucrats seem to be more interested in being hip and trying to keep up with "the kids" than doing the right thing.
- chessthecat, on 07/07/2009, -3/+2Sounds like a great idea. The iPhone is quickly positioning itself as the ubiquitous computing device we were all promised around 20 years ago.
- FOR3MAN, on 07/07/2009, -5/+4I'm totally down...
Sent from my iPhone. - gorgalor, on 07/07/2009, -3/+1Crap article. I have a feeling if the iPhone app is successful, they'll revisit pushing out the app to other smart phones, and deem the additional development cost worthwhile. Also, Apple's App Store has more publicity, apps, and developers than everyone else. The iPhone is the king of apps. Blackberry's? King of email?
- lightningrod220, on 07/07/2009, -4/+230 million iPhones sold. Not including iPod Touch devices, which are significantly more. They are surpassing Blackberry, and are increasingly popular.
Just because you don't have or want one, don't rip on people who do. - foofightrs777, on 07/07/2009, -7/+4Not to hate on Apple or anything but this is stupid of the city government. A service that all smartphones could access would surely be a lot more useful to a lot more people. And since ALL taxpayers are fotting the bill the government should do its best to maximize the utility of the dollars spent. A mobile website would be excellent.
- iamacyborg, on 07/07/2009, -6/+3I use an Android phone I don't think that it's "unfair" in the sense that the city is catering to iPhone users.
I don't know exactly what constitutes a municipal complaint, but say there's a bunch of the kids on the street with a boom box belting out really ***** music at 130dB, and some enterprising young iPhone user takes a snapshot and reports it, then:
1.) I, and everyone else around me benefits from the removal of the violation (assuming the city does something about it)
2.) The costs (time, phone bill, etc.) incurred in reporting the violation are shouldered 100% by the person filing the report.
In other words, I get a portion of the benefits and the iPhone user pays all of the costs (in reporting).
What if the city came out with a 'game' for the iPhone where users earn 'points' for picking up litter and compete against each other to earn a 'high score'? If the development costs + the participation level was > the cost of paying city workers to pick up the trash, I'd say go for it.
Now, whether the $25,000 price tag is reasonable versus the benefit? I'd say hell no; it would make much more sense to expose an web service API for submitting complaints and letting independent developers write apps to link into it, whether for the iPhone, Android, Pre, or any other device with a low entry bar for independent developers and internet connectivity. - loki49152, on 07/07/2009, -7/+2Should we really make it easier for people who are more likely to be self-important whining douchebags to file complaints to the nanny state against people who don't satisfy their every whim?
- mksmothers, on 07/07/2009, -15/+9governments are really inefficient at spending stolen (tax) money.
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