Another tidbit from the conference on location-aware tech I'm at today. But first, let me point you to an intriguing post my good friend Josh Levy has over on HuffPo. Josh suggests that some of us -- and you know who you are -- are making too big a deal about the iPhone's ability to change the world. As neat as the 3G is, it's not going to end world hunger, make the janjaweed stop their murderous rampage, so on and so forth.

Josh's note of caution is wise and healthy. I will suggest, though, focusing on a slightly different point. I think it's fair to say that, given the events of the past decade or so, the Internet has proven the ability to change the world in ways both large and small. And why the iPhone is as exciting as it is is because it presents the possibility of changing the Internet.

Let me try to explain what I'm thinking by using the one feature I'm most excited about when it comes to the new iPhone: GPS. Location-awareness is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest undertapped resources we have going on the tech front -- with the possibility of revolutionizing distribution, emergency services, defense, and even how we interact with our communities.

What makes the iPhone exciting on that front? My new favorite smart guy, Ted Morgan of Skyhook, just made this point here at the conference. Location-based services (LBS) have long lagged behind where everyone working in the field expected them to be by now. But with the new iPhone apps store, people can try and toss any number of new free and low-cost LBS apps, and that high-churn rate can refine location-aware tools in a way that just wasn't possible before.

I'm telling you, there are a number of very excited business types here who are pretty psyched about what the next few years are going to bring on the location front, and there all talking about the iPhone and its clones. GPS is one way that the iPhone might actually shape how we engage with the global network. Josh is right -- this shiny gadget alone won't change the world. But it does raise the possibility of shaping the future of something -- the Internet -- that has demonstrated a pretty remarkable ability to do just that.