Outside.in not only links people with their local blogs, but also connects them to whatever physical space they’re in. This month, the company will release an iPhone application called Radar allowing users to roam the city, type in a physical location and see what opinions the blogosphere can provide about the place. “There are already a lot of ways to find the nearest dry cleaner or Italian restaurant,” Mr. Johnson said. “But this is an interesting slice of data you can’t get from Google: What are people saying right now in my neighborhood?” Like Mr. Johnson, bloggers are expanding the idea of what constitutes a neighborhood: It’s not just a place, but also a constellation of views and opinions.
Nice to see outside.in getting some great publicity in the NYTimes for the app I created for them. It’s even nicer to finally get to talk about this app’s existence.