iBurgh complaint department for iPhone gets to the heart of city living
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Aug 17th 2009 4:01PM
posted Aug 17th 2009 4:01PM
As anybody who lives in a mid-sized American city knows, the only good reason to contact the mayor's office is to complain about something. Now Pittsburgh, which usually only graces this site when one of its universities develops a robot or a weapon of some sort, has put its own high-tech spin on this with iBurgh. Described by city councilman Bill Peduto as "the first mobile application for city government," the app lets iPhone owners snap a picture of their favorite eyesore or attractive nuisance, attach a quick note, and send the geotagged information to the city's 311 operators. Not only is this good for potholes and gridlocked traffic, but it's sure to be a hit among rioting college students the next time the Steelers win some sort of big game -- and if you don't know what we're talking about, just punch +steelers +riot into Google. And then hit the read link to download for yourself.
[Via KDKA,Thanks Dan H.]
[Via KDKA,Thanks Dan H.]
That's pretty cool.
Now Philly should make something like this. They will have a field day with the incoming complaints.....
Philly would get way too many complaints. But I would love to see it happen.
In Memphis you would get your iphone stolen while you were trying report all of the crime and blight....
What if they submit inappropriate pictures? (i.e phallus, uterus)
Try it, but don't do it from your own phone. :-)
Anybody taking uterus pictures with an iPhone has larger problems.
@ jon
Larger is correct. HilDog large.
"attractive nuisance" - There's an app for that?
I read the headlines as a place to complain about your iphone service, anyone else thought that.
This isn't the first. Boston is doing this now.
Boston's app isn't done yet... and it's probably not as ugly.
This isn't the first because fixmystreet has had mobile versions for quite a while now.
The colors used in the application are from the seal of Pittsburgh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania
fixmystreet sends emails to the city
iBurgh is integrated with Pittsburgh's 311 system
Go Steelers! Go Penguins!
Right on man..
Turning down a 7 year contract: $49 million.
Signing a 1 year contract with Detroit: $7.5 million.
Losing to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup: PRICELESS.
singing up for Engadget: Free
Commenting on Engadget: Free
Talking to yourself: Priceless
My comment got deleted!??!? WTF? Was it because I used the F word or was it because I called Marion Hossa a traitor?
Take a hint from Giz and fix your damn comment system fixed instead deleting comments because of swears. How apple of you to censor something on the internet
yeah pittsburgh, represent!
+1 for Pittsburgh
rABBLE rABBLE rABBLE
That's a nice idea ... I'd like to see this expanded to more cities and support more platforms!
This is a fantastic idea!
It's a nice idea, but pointless in practice. I'm sure 311's task list already stretches into the next decade (if they even had the money to address the items on it.) Having an easier way to report these things isn't going to help those problems.
i disagree. Using the location info from the iPhone and an app interface to choose from a list of complaint topics, this could save a lot of money spent on 311 operators. Of course, we are in a time when we need more, not fewer jobs..... oh well.
-j
+2 for the steel city!!
now how about the rest of us that don't have an iPhone? Why not just let us send an MMS message with a picture and description, you know, something that US iPhones can't do?
I didn't realize that the iPhone's camera was nice enough to catch a picture of the entire Hill District at once.
A shot in the arm at the STOP SNITCHING campaign. Hopefully these govt cities implementing something like this puts some kind of phone owner privacy polices in place.
An iPhone app doing just this has been around in the UK since the start of the app store - I think it's called Fix My Street...
Yeah...whenever we yinzers win a championship, something generally burns down. I was honestly surprised that Oakland didn't burn down when we won the Superbowl (again), and was honestly surprised that the South Side didn't burn down when we won the Stanley Cup.
Oh oh oh! Did you hear about the new drink that Starbucks introduced for a few days after the finals? It was called the Hossa. It was a latte drink and it came with no cup.
As a Pittsburgher, I find this a little insulting. I'm all for technology-based means to expand access to government.,Howver, limiting something like this by placing it on a platform as expensive as the iPhone seems pretty insensitive to issues of technology access. Sure, the iPhone-less can simply call 311, but if this is truly equivalent to using the app, then why is the app desirable?
Also, the comment about the Hill District above makes me think that this has some some icky cultural implications-- giving the wealthy a special lens with which to look disapprovingly at poorer neighborhoods.
actually, i was thinking the same thing. most people i see in shadyside have iphones so it's possible they'll just have the nicest streets in town
Support for other devices will come in the future. Pittsburgh wanted to be the first with such an application so there wasn't time to waste developing for the plethora of other device platforms.
Pittsburgh is a great place to live PERIOD
You have to be living in one of richer areas of town, because from what I see this place is crap!
I predict 90 comments on this article
I wonder if I can take an aerial shot from a flyover and send that in - the whole thing is an eyesore.
ahh the super bowl riots...it seems like yesterday i was 2 feet from getting trampled by a mounted police officer and helicopters were hovering about the crowd with their spotlights glowing. good times, good times indeed
Fuck Pittsburgh, I can't wait to move to Texas!
I live in Texas and am from Pittsburgh. It's hard not having Yuengling.