We Love New Zealand

Knowhere is bloody proud to be a New Zealand company. So why have we paid almost no attention to location-based services in New Zealand? Well...Kiwis just don’t seem to be that big on location-based technology.

However, with the introduction of Facebook Places, local media went crazy and published TWO articles on location-based social networking, all on the same day. So is this the rise of location-based services in New Zealand? Should Knowhere prepare itself to lead the gold rush? Before you start writing a cheque to invest in our company, let’s look at these articles a bit more.

The first article paints a pretty positive view, as suggested by its title – Hip to be on Foursquare. The story basically revolves around a Kiwi businesswoman who likes to "check in" when she goes out to cafes and bars (but not supermarkets). The article also ran an online poll – "Do you use Foursquare". Despite the positive tone in the article, 75% said "I am not interested in Foursquare".

Looking at the second article, the survey results hardly seem surprising. After trialing Foursquare, the writer decided that "I'll just tell people where I am with words, using my preferred social medium, and take a coffee card for my wallet". As often the case, this article also raised a number of privacy concerns.

So what does this mean for Knowhere? Are we relocating to a market where we can be exposed to more people who are interested in location-based services? Of course not! We are and will continue to look for opportunities overseas, but New Zealand is awesome and it's our home. While we look forward to having an office in the Silicon Valley, our head office will always be here in Aotearoa.