Since then, lots of companies have been trying to figure out how to enable location-specific, ad hoc social networks where strangers in the same location can easily exchange words and pictures.

Chirp is a fantastic alternative to Color, because it's so instantaneous and easy to use, and because the sharing won't penetrate through walls and out into the street, like Color did.

With alternatives, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, texting, web site uploading and others, there is some requirement for pairing devices, entering in passwords, logging in, addressing messages and other barriers.

With Chirp, you press one button to send. The recipient does nothing except open the app to get a Twitter-like stream of all incoming chirps.

Note that because Chirp uses sound, you can transmit data over a phone as easily as someone in the room.