My little brother called this afternoon, just as I was editing my final RWW post for the day. I let it go to voicemail, then when I made sure that I'd spelled everything correctly and that I'd closed all the brackets in the HTML, I scheduled the post and I called him back.

"Sorry I couldn't take your call," I told him. "Foursquare just got funded."

"Foursquare?" he asked. "Is that an ed-tech company?"

"No," I explained. "They're a location-based social networking. You go places. You check in."

"Oh," he said, sounding unimpressed. "Not sure I've heard of them."

"Anyway, they made bank today with a new round of venture capital funding," I started to explain, but then summarized: "Yay them." And we switched topics, proceeding to talk about my nephew's impending 4th birthday (I bought him a Nerf sword! OMG!) and my brother's recent purchase of an iPod Touch.

My brother (and I hope he doesn't mind me saying this) rivals me in geekdom. I might say he surpasses me, I mean, he does Science while I merely Write. He's an emergency room nurse. I'm a blogger. Whatever. We're geeky (I say this with deep, deep apologies to my sister-in-law and to all our children.)

I stress that geeky pedigree because I was really struck today, on this day the tech community has long chattered about -- the day of Foursquare's next move (funding, acquisition, whatever it was bound to be), that the company has really barely made a dent in the mainstream. (1.8 million users -- I think that's roughly the number of iPhone 4s sold on the first day, yes? And about the population of Idaho.)

See, I'd wager my brother is part of the smartphone target demographic. One of the main obstacles stopping his adopting the technology is cellphone coverage in rural BFE. Add to that that he can't use a phone in the emergency room, and so he's been in no rush to get an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry. His acquisition of an iPod Touch really marks his entry into the realm. But when he asked me tonight for a list of recommended apps, I wasn't sure I could sell him on the importance of Foursquare. The Touch will be (primarily) a productivity device for him. He wants the technology in order to have immediate access to medical apps (or so he says). Being the mayor of the emergency room isn't so compelling, ya know?

I do think that there is a big future in location-based networking that needn't necessarily revolve around coupons, game mechanics, or archaic titles. I believe there can be lots of compelling reasons people adopt the technology.

Will my brother put Foursquare on his iPod Touch? Maybe. (Likely.) Maybe he'll check in sporadically -- on vacation, perhaps. Or maybe, like his sister, it'll become part of his routine. Will he and others like him be drawn to and stay engaged in the location-based startup? VCs seem to be betting "yes." Until I see my brother start to accrue badges and mayorships, I am not sure.