The Network of a Network with the App Waze
http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2013/06/13/what-waze-adds-to-google-a-view-from-wazes-ceo/
In this article, Forbes Magazine features the popular application, Waze and the 2013 buyover by Google. Waze is known as a useful tool to many motorists, allowing them to observe warnings about speed trap zones, police presence, construction zones, heavy traffic areas and many others as well as to warn other motorists. The app is gps based and also provides turn by turn navigation. Waze is free overall and makes money through advertisements. However, it aims to provide users with advertisements they want to see rather than those that are irrelevant and are mere annoyances.
So how does Waze relate to topics discussed in Info 2040 Networks? Well for one, it is somewhat like a network inside a network. Waze is a network of people helping each other out by posting warnings of road delays, traffic, warnings, etc.That is the networks of help that the application offers. Every time you post a warning, there are points awarded to you and it is like a social competition to gain more points. However, being a turn by turn navigation app, it is also a guide through the physical infrastructural network of roadways and highways. The nodes are all the different drivers when thinking on a social media aspect. From a structural network point of view, the nodes are the cars on the roads. The paths are the roadways for both a social media and structural aspect.. Since there are so many drivers on the road and everywhere is connected through roadways, the network is quite expansive. For countries that are connected, the network becomes global. Waze is featured and used in many different countries and continents.
Waze is also similar to the idea of game theory involving roadways that we discussed in lecture. With the infrastructural network that Waze presents of roadways, it analyzes traffic conditions for you and predicts the best possible route. In other words, Waze chooses your best response in the game theory. If every route possible is moving slowly or quickly then you may have a Nash equilibrium where Waze shows all routes moving congruently and nothing to gain from switching.