RL Effortless Shopping

Over GPS, I usually choose Google maps to plan my next move. Facebook keeps me abreast of everyone's itinerary, Just last week I realized a friend was picking up and moving to CO through a status update! I was Dodgeball regularly, not so much for the social aspect, but because it's the best and fastest service I've found for getting the location, including cross streets, of any establishment.

Although the above mentioned are the LBS I most frequent, I'd like to focus on some technologies that aren't locative in the sense of knowing the user's whereabouts, but do rely on it. A friend of mine (like 90% of New Yorkers at one point in their life or another) works at Ralph Lauren. Thus, a few years back I was among the first to hear about RL's new interactive shopping endeavor. Touchscreens in the Madison Ave windows allowed shoppers to step up and make 'big horse' shirt purchases right there at the store, 24 hours a day. Here's the story: ['http://www.selfservice.org/article_1903_2.php']

Just recently, RL has done it again. They have a site customized for mobile devices and have integrated bar code technology. Shoppers can now photograph these black and white patterns in magazine ads, using their handheld, and be taken directly to area of the site where the featured items can be purchased.