Maybe location-based services aren’t as up-and-coming as marketers first thought.

According to a MediaPost article, a recent study shows only about 4% of adults use location-based programs and many who don’t use it cite privacy reasons. I agree that could be an issue. If I’m hanging out at a cafe or bar, I might not want some creeper who sees my check-in to come find me. Or that somewhat sketchy neighbor to know I’m not at my house.

But I think this hasn’t taken off completely for another reason, something I believe will begin to resolve itself in the near future.

Although all the talk is about smart phones, there are still a lot of people without them. I’m one for example. Two of my roommates are two more. In fact, thinking seriously, the only close friend that I can think of who has a smart phone is my boyfriend, who just got a Blackberry for use with his new job. (Is a Blackberry even considered a smart phone? I guess, in my opinion, it is.) This will probably change soon; in fact, I’m hoping to get a Droid or some kind of smart phone with internet for Christmas. I have tried using Foursquare on my regular phone but texting it got so confusing. Perhaps this will be easier once I have a smart phone.