The single greatest use of technology in the history of everything.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cocktailcompass/page

Cellphone saturation has reached an estimated 66% of the world population. From their 1G incarnation in '79 to just 30 years later there are now roughly 4 billion cellphones currently in use. 2 out of every 3 persons on earth have a cellphone.

I remain in the 1 of 3 minority of those monkeys who have yet to get around to 'needing' one. And not for some Neo-Luddite soapboxing or anti-materialistic posturing; I simply haven't felt any actual need to get one, yet.

My position has been rocked slightly with the recent offering of a new iPhone application from "The Stranger" (the iPhone is already 'sexy' enough to have caught my eye, but this bumps that technolust to the next level).

"The Stranger's Cocktail Compass" is a free application that uses the iPhone's built-in assisted GPS, 3G high-speed data transfer, and "The Stranger's" database of Seattle bars to provide an instant, on-demand, location-specific handheld pointer to the nearest 'Happy Hours', complete with countdown to when the Hour ends:

"Tap the app and in mere moments you'll have the nearest happy hour at your fingertips, along with its location, distance, and how long you'll have before happy hour is over."



"Love a place you found with Cocktail Compass? Make it a favorite and find it again next time-even if your memory's a bit blurry on how you ended up there in the first place."

And it even offers the (divinely inspired) dedicated 'Cabs' button:

"Having too much fun? At the end of the night, hit the Cabs icon, and call a cab to take you home."


It's like a piece of tech from "Start Trek the Next Generation" (you know, what the 'future' used to be) has been repurposed for poor Seattle drunkards like me!
Oh, I am sorely tempted....