The Loc8tor is a personal tracking device, squarely marketed at the "I’m always losing my keys/wallet/iPod" brigade – a social group I used to be proud to scoff at, with a hearty "I never lose anything" – but no longer.
It’s not that I’m more forgetful than before, it just seems my brain’s priorities have shifted since fatherhood and things like my spare set of car keys (thanks for finding them Dad) aren’t quite as high up the mental "do not lose" list these days. And that’s before my stuff starts "moving" on its own, with the help of small hands and an endless supply of fiendish/watery hiding places.
So you can imagine I was excited when the folks at Loc8tor offered to send me one of their trackers for review, with its claims that I would never lose anything again. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised with the whole package – Small (30x20x9mm) tags can be attached to pretty much anything and "Loc8ted" from the handheld, which is roughly the size and shape of a slim cellphone and has a clear green monochrome display. It gives a good indication of distance and direction to the tag, with an accompanying beep that becomes more insistent as you get "warmer".
We had several games of "hide the keys" around the house and garden, and found them quicker every time, often helped by the bleeping/flashing of the tag being tracked. The device range was great indoors, and is reputedly 600 feet with clear line of sight.
Aside from the obvious keys/wallet finding benefits, it doesn’t take much imagination to think up more fun applications like digital treasure hunts and hide-and-go-seek. On a more practical level I admit that if my cat Kylie were the outdoors type I would definitely buy one of these and tag her collar, and in certain circumstances (i.e. something involving big crowds) would certainly clip one on my daughter’s belt.
So after 2 weeks of "Loc8ting" stuff I’m hooked, the only problem now is that I have to return it to its rightful owners. I wonder if they’d believe me if I just told them I’d lost it?
Have your kids "moved" any of your favourite geek-stuff? Would a tracking device have helped you find it?
