Apple’s iPhone can play music, it can play videos and soon, it will be able to play matchmaker too.
“Serendipity,” Apple’s latest work in progress, could put a whole new spin on dating, giving Ottawa singles who have their hands full with a hectic schedule a chance to meet someone special.
The program will require its starry-eyed users to input a few personal details into their phone and be on their way with their regular routine: coffee and a newspaper at a local café, a bus ride down Elgin to work, or stopping in at the bank at the end of the day. “Serendipity,” using GPS technology, will vibrate to alert registered users that a possible love connection is in the area, making date-finding as simple as a thumbnail photo reading “Do you want to meet this person – yes or no?” This new technology makes speed dating and singles websites seem like a thing of the past.
Online dating services like Fastlife.ca suggest that though numbers change daily, they have over 10,000 registered users in the Ottawa-Gatineau area at any given time. So with Internet dating becoming a norm in today’s society, Apple seems to have spotted the market and jumped right into the deep end.
The iPhone’s target demographic has always been an entertainment-oriented crowd, especially compared to Blackberry or the new Nexus One’s business-minded users. If anyone has the potential to pull off an application like this, it’s certainly Apple.
But are Ottawa singles having so much trouble finding dates that they need a real-time software program playing cupid in their love lives? What happened to meeting people through friends, coworkers or family?
Just when we thought society couldn’t possibly be more dependent on their cell phones, it seems that even our relationships may be left up to technology.
Still, Apple might have its work cut out for it trying to get users to sign up for this program. Regardless of questions concerning privacy, costs and safety, dating in general is hard enough without a 24/7 fear that the love of your life, an avid iPhone user of course, could be around the corner at any moment. Dating is hard enough as it is without incorporating the constant mental stress and nerves of a first date (especially a blind one) into daily routine.
But maybe Apple could use this romantic gesture of a phenomenon to influence more than just the lives of hopeful singles.
Forget, for a second, the premise of the application as a dating tool. The idea of digitally connecting people with common interests could serve a useful purpose in a technology-based world of business. Perhaps on a personal level, “Serendipity” pushes the boundaries of unnecessary a little, but the concept of uniting partners, clients or companies with common goals and interests could be a more realistic use of this progressive new tool.
Nonetheless, if Apple is going to go forward with this application, they have some kinks to work out. “Serendipity” may take the work out of finding a date, but it certainly doesn’t ease the dating process itself.
So what’s next? A followup tool fully equipped with personalized date-night tips and pointers?
For all the romantics out there, let’s hope not.