I like being able to check how busy a place is, but not like this. Simple head count or an average wait time is good. Using web cams is creepy overkill. Typical tech bro invasive shit.
Google Maps already provides this, and it’s pretty handy.
I believe they do this the same way they do traffic jams, by seeing how many android phones are at the location vs. average.
iPhones will report it too if they have Maps open.
/stares in smart glasses
Silicon Valley once again solving a problem nobody actually has.
I don’t know about nobody. Did you see what “one horny user” wrote?
Inverted alcoholics have this problem…I guess…
You have to drink a lot to become inverted.
Where’s my husband? - desperate housewives of silicon valley
So San Francisco just invented the webcam? (Btw, Google Maps already shows how busy establishments are.)
I know of a few bars that have/used to have web streams of the bar. Most of them started in the 90s and 00s and I can’t remember if they shut them off after a certain hour or not. Buddy of mine in Florida would go to one of these locations have a cocktail in front of the camera and wave at us while we would freezing our asses off in the northern Midwest
Bar Code was one. Cameras streaming patrons in other franchises in other cities so you could kinda interact with them.
This app got me laid,” says one five-star review on the Apple App Store. “Best way to buy tickets for events. 2nite is the truth and the future,” the horny user wrote.
This author knows what’s up. Most glorious ending to a news article I seen in a while.
Everytime I see a Gizmodo link I get Gen-X vertigo and feel like Robin Williams in the Jumanji meme.
I mean the camera is already there I guess the issue is it being publicly available and people being creeps.
I would use this app to find the bars that weren’t crowded.
I remember walking into bars and even paying the entry fee just to walk right back out 2 minutes later and waste my time going to the next one. Sometimes, it would happen multiple times in a row. It never made the experience better.
Someone tried this years ago at Startup Weekend (SocicalEyes). It never took off.
I need this for fish and chips shops, minus the cameras part.
I think this is great and don’t understand why so many people balk at it. Do you think you have an expectation of privacy in a bar? And head counts doesn’t tell you how many coeds are there. And this would add an additional layer of security with more eyes able to catch predators spiking drinks or starting fights.
I’m generally in favor of privacy, but a bar is public place. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Unless they’re putting cameras in the bathrooms, I don’t see how this is an issue. They likely already have security cameras that are recording, this just makes some of those publicly viewable. Other than an additional layer of convenience, how is this any different from walking into a bar, seeing it’s packed, and leaving.
The potential for misue is too great.
Security cams are not available to anyone - only the bar staff has (hopefully limited) access to the video. While everything is recorded, unless something happens you can be confident the video will end up deleted.
There’s a difference from being watched by some creep through the window and being watched by a dozen creeps wanking off to you in a basment.
I would say the potential for misuse, while definitely present, is outweighed by the potential benefits.
A creep watching you from their basement is less likely to act on their dangerous impulses.
An overcrowded bar, poses a lot of risks in itself and the ability to determine how crowded the bar is without having to be physically present can mitigate your exposure to those risks.
In a crowded bar you have a higher risk of being drugged or assaulted because security and staff will likely be distracted or simply unable to notice and intervene. Also, in the event of an emergency that requires you to be able exit quickly, such as a fire or earthquake not only will it be much more difficult to leave it’s also more likely that people will panic and exasperate the problem.
Is a camera with a public live feed the best way to achieve that? No, probably not. But it’s simple, cheap, and gets the job done.
A bar is also a public venue. In a public place you have absolutely no reasonable expectation of privacy. So, while in most circumstances it’s unreasonable to expect that you’re being recorded, it’s equally unreasonable to expect that you’re not.
I’m shocked at what an unpopular thought this is. Like… If you go out in public, there’s a very real risk that people in public will see you. If that’s a concern you have, then you should take steps to not be seen in public. To me, that would mean not making my presence obvious when visiting a bar.
Camera or not, if people are looking for you, they will find ways to look for you in public places. You should always assume you’re being watched, because you probably already are.
