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Unintended Use

It is always interesting when people put technology to unintended use - using Foursquare to escape into a fantasy vacation is definitely one of them. The author writes with obvious relish about his make believe travels which a cheat mode would completely ruin for him. What is harmless fun in one context for one person could be quite a different thing under other circumstances. As one commentor points out - allowing fake checkins on Foursquare makes it completely irrelevant.

While that may be true for now, if fake checkins became commonplace enough, a business model would likely evolve that took advantage of it. This is a perfect example of creating an artificial need, fulfilling it and generating in the process secondary and tertiary needs that are still less real. Every step of the convoluted way, someone could stand to make good money if they were smart enough to connect these conjured "needs" to a certain demographic that can be convinced that the quality of their life will vastly improve with this new thing.
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