"Do you have an iPhone yet, GB?" asks Close Encounters, "if not, I've got something to show you that might make you change your mind!"I hadn't seen Close Encounters for a couple of months or more, so with my boyfriend T still out of the country, we decided to catch up over a nice meal in a smart restaurant last Saturday night.
"I don't like iPhones because I'm much more efficient when using a proper little keyboard, rather than that touchscreen version that iPhones have," I reply. "And on top of that, I'm allergic to Apple!"
"But look at this :-)," answers Close Encounters, quite undeterred, "it uses GPS and takes the art of hooking up with like minded guys to a completely new level!"
"You don't mean ....," I answer, almost afraid of guessing what I'm about to be shown, "... that it can actually find guys for fun near your current location?"
He starts an iPhone app called Grindr and nods, "Absolutely!!"Soon, on his iPhone screen there are small pics of twenty or more guys.
"Look, this one is only 275 metres away! Shall we ask him if he wants a threesome?"
"And it works all over the world too," continues Close Encounters, ignoring his last question. "When I was on holiday abroad last month, I turned it on to see if I could find anyone. To my surprise there was another guy in the same town as me, although he wasn't one of the locals. In fact I think we both live in London, because on my return I spotted him again! So does Grindr change your mind?"
"Actually, no!" I answer honestly, "A month ago Boyfriend T started talking about moving in to live with me, and we've now agreed that it's going to happen :-). I really do want to focus on him now, rather than random guys from Grindr or wherever!""And how long do you think that'll last for?"
"I don't know, hopefully a very very long time :-). I've always thought that I'd be able to achieve so much more if I didn't waste lots of time cruising!"
"Which is why you need Grindr," answers Close Encounters triumphantly, "because it genuinely makes cruising so much more convenient :-)."
I remain unconvinced, and gradually the conversation drifts onto other subjects.
Even though I've got no plans to buy an iPhone at the moment, I have to admit that Grindr is a very clever idea. So I'd be quite interested to know what any readers who've used Grindr think of it?
Posts
4 comments:
I had Grindr installed for a while bit, to be honest, I got bored of it pretty quickly. It was a nice idea but still too basic to be useful. Also, the GPS wasn't consistently accurate, even in London.
It was annoying that you only had 1 picture that you couldn't zoom in on. Whilst people could send you more, if you weren't logged in at the time it'd just hang when you tried to view them.
In the end I deleted the app and went back to mobile versions of actual websites instead.
In the future I'm sure they'll improve it (maybe the paid version is better??!!?) but right now it's not worth the effort for me.
Its a classic example of an app that does one thing very very well but nothing else.
Oh, I'm sure they'll manage to develop Grindr for the new google phone.
I have always been a complete Apple junkie but recently had to negotiate Apple's aftercare service and now I'm coming round to your way of thinking GB. Regent St was absolutely useless - condescending, slow, and utterly unhelpful. I had to go to their Kingston branch for help.
Hey there,
How you doing!
I am really glad to read that you kinda found your way with a guy you like and do not waste time looking around for "someone better". It saves a lot of energy!
I am still writing a long personal message to let you know of my personal stuff and my current experiences! It takes a lot of time and thinking, of course!
Xx
P
Post a Comment