As some of us die hard geek runners wait for the upcoming release of Garmin Connect for additional Garmin devices, I thought I would send them a few features on my wishlist:
- flickr-style privacy levels
I want to be able to setup levels like family, friends, and public and decide who sees what. Sounds like this is already on the schedule. Facebook has a nice fine-grained (maybe ad nauseum) model around sharing – maybe I want to share distance, pace, and time with everyone but specific location with only friends. - Facebook-style groups
I want to be able to join spontaneous groups the Facebook way. It would be great to have groups for events, groups for specific training goals, or who knows what else. In addition to the usual discussion/calendar stuff, Connect would have the interesting advantage of being able to mash member data. - Go nuts with feeds
I want a few more feed options. URI-based querying for feed filtering would be a great start. And how about not just HTML-based content in the feeds, but maybe a GPX-based feed for… - More widget options
Featuring elevation in your whole enchilada Viewport isn’t so interesting to some of us in flatland. Even though I’m no Boston qualifier, pace might be a little more equalizing. You’ve got such a wicked cool Player, which not throw that into a widget? But like I said above, maybe structured feeds would be a good start – then your community can innovate the widgets. - Better pricing models
I hate to throw this one at anybody, but when I see what I get for $25/year with flickr pro, it sets the bar (low) for everyone. Maybe I should have played with Standard features more during my first 30 days to appreciate them, but without some of the above, $100/year is sounding spendy. I don’t think people hesitate at flickr’s price level. Who knows what Garmin will do with pricing though…
But it’s easy to point out shortcomings. The fact is that MotionBased rocks and is a cool way to track and share running experiences. Evidently Garmin agreed – great job gang!
Technorati tags: garmin, motionbased, gps, running, community
Scott Mark 
My wish is for better viewports for blogging, or add a “feed”, something like you’re mentioning adding facebook features. Something like their wall, instead of just the tables. Something like that moveable type hack, built into their site.
Right for all of those points. MotionBased to me seemed more geared towards performance. They seemed to put a lot onto the Analyzer, etc. I really think these social aspects would make it take off more.
But it also seems like every time I read a new running post on someone’s blog, I discover a new sharing site. Maybe what I want already exists somewhere else and I just haven’t found it yet?