A New App for RoadTrippers

[Mark Sedenquist]

Megan an I spent a couple of years brainstorming a similar app. But we couldn't find technology to make it work the way we envisioned.

We hope this company has more success:

INTRODUCING HEARHERE - A NEW AUDIO ENTERTAINMENT APP FOR ROAD-TRIPS
New App Connects Road-Trippers With The People, Places and History of the Land As They Travel

Launching today and available exclusively on the App Store for iPhone, HearHere is a new audio entertainment app designed to enable the curious road-tripper to discover the people, places and histories of the land they are traveling through.

Featuring professional narration from Kevin Costner, Phil Jackson and a host of top voice talent, the app is the brainchild of audio storytelling entrepreneur and technologist, Woody Sears, and Bill Werlin, former President of the North Face. In addition to serving as a writer, editor and narrator on HearHere, Costner is also a Co-Founder of the company.

At launch, HearHere features more than 1500 stories covering California, Oregon and Washington. In the coming months, HearHere will present more than 10,000 stories covering the United States coast-to-coast.

“Since the dawn of time, stories have been the predominant way that values, teachings and knowledge have been passed from one generation to the next,” said HearHere Co-Founder & CEO Woody Sears. “With HearHere, we’ve created a platform that brings these stories together and makes them accessible to all, helping preserve our tradition of oral storytelling.”

How It Works
As you travel, HearHere serves up stories based on your geographic location and interests. The audio vignettes, generally 2-3 minutes in length, combine to tell the history around you, painting a multi-dimensional picture the listener is unlikely to get from a history book or visitor's guide. (Read more here.)

[AZBuck]

If you have an Android phone, as I do, and go to the Play Store, you will find a similarly named app: Here Hear. It is NOT the same thing at all but rather an app to treat anxiety!?!?

AZBuck

[Rick Quinn]

It's a nice idea, but they're dreaming if they think people will pay $6.99 per week for the service that's required to actually use their "free" app. I signed up for the free trial (stopping short of paying for anything) and sampled some of the recordings, which probably provide TOO MUCH detail, droning on, a bit like a lecture. No doubt it would be better if I was actually AT the place they're describing; as it was, I got bored pretty quickly. I wonder where they're getting their content?

Rick

[Mark Sedenquist]

If you have an Android phone, as I do, and go to the Play Store, you will find a similarly named app: Here Hear. It is NOT the same thing at all but rather an app to treat anxiety!?!?

AZBuck

Well, that's pretty bizarre -- that they didn't build for both platforms. Good to know!

It's a nice idea, but they're dreaming if they think people will pay $6.99 per week for the service that's required to actually use their "free" app. I signed up for the free trial (stopping short of paying for anything) and sampled some of the recordings, which probably provide TOO MUCH detail, droning on, a bit like a lecture. No doubt it would be better if I was actually AT the place they're describing; as it was, I got bored pretty quickly. I wonder where they're getting their content?

Rick

I am not sure, and not having an iPhone, I didn't test it, as did AZBuck.

Our idea was to use geo tags tied directly into the app, (which would know the direction and rate of travel of the device) so that the app would say -- "if you look off to the left, at 9:00 you will see a faded sign for the Kokoweef Caverns, home to a mining claim that was once used as an elaborate fallout shelter and is reputed to have an underground stream lined with gold ore. Local mineralogical clubs still schedule meetings to explore the tailings. It is back to being mined and so the area is private property." This is found in the Mountain Pass area of I-15 in California.

Mark

[Rick Quinn]

This new app is actually less sophisticated than your idea. The app displays a modified Google maps screen that flows along with you as you travel, just like any other GPS or mapping app. If you pass something or stop somewhere that has one of their "stories" associated, you'll see an icon on your screen. You touch the icon, and you get an audio 'lecture' that lasts about 3 minutes. If you see a historical marker, for example, there are good odds that the app will tell you all about it, and in some detail. Cute town? Old mill? Nature preserve? Yup--but when you consider all the stuff that's out there, ain't no way they've got everything covered, and the app never "says" anything, it simply plays recordings on request. It's like a cross between a travel guide and a mini-lecture series on audio book, with a play list specific to your location.

$6.99 per week is the subscription charge for unlimited access. I'm not sure how easy it is to start and stop it, if you only want to use it for a week or two while you're traveling. Paying that much over a longer term would get awfully expensive!

Rick

[DonnaR57]

I'm with Rick - at $7/week, that gets expensive, especially if you can't stop and start it at will!

I always liked the back of the long strip maps that you'd get from AAA with their TripTik. Their app doesn't have nearly the detailed blurbs that the paper TripTiks have. We haven't gotten a paper TripTik in a few years, mainly because it's pretty redundant to the other stuff we have with us, other than the blurb on the back of the TT maps.

The other thing that I'd have to wonder about, is how much data that app would use. Some of us travel with minimum data plans.


Donna