Google maps goes social

Part of my role in life now I'm retired is to be a misanthropic curmudgeon complaining about how things have changed.

Well instead of Windows 10 upgrades, I've a new peeve - Google maps and it's social aspects.

Like just about everyone on the planet I use Google maps to find things and find how to get to things, especially as my elderly Subaru doesn't have a GPS and while I've got $50 Chinese no name add on unit I don't always turn it on.

Anyway, last week I was at Protester's Falls in the Nightcap national park, and the falls were impressive enough to merit a picture or two on my phone. And up pops Google asking me to add a picture to the location.

I was so amazed at getting a signal in a goanna infested rainforest I clicked yes. And obviously this put me on the list of people to nag

- can you contribute a picture of the motel you stayed in in Armidale?
- can you do a review of this Indian restaurant you ate in?
- can you review this coffee shop ?

and the answer is no. maps is a tool, and I don't appreciate screens asking me to do a review when I'm trying to find somewhere specific. Soliciting reviews is fine but nagging that gets in the way of what I'm trying to do is not ...

Ipads as point of sales device

I guess we're all used to the fact that cash tills are all software based these days - pc in kiosk mode with a touch screen running the sales application and a second slave display showing your purchases as they go through the checkout. There's also these customised tablets distributed by the Commonwealth bank that cafes love to total up your tab and take your card, and there's been some similar generic iPad applications around for sometime, but I was in my local wholefoods store yesterday and I saw an implementation I hadn't seen before:

An iPad as the cash register, but hooked up to an iPad mini as a slave display on a stand to show you how much you'd spent, and on what.

The hardware clearly costs more than a generic pc, but it's small, light and flexible. Being a wholefoods store I'm guessing cost will be an issue for them, so despite the comparatively high cost of the hardware involved the cost of the whole package (software+hardware+maintenance) must be competitive ...