While I'm no 4sq/gowalla fanboy, to say that Facebook pwns all location based checkins, and "that's a wrap" is a bit premature. Facebook also hosts photos and has made it incredibly easy to upload them, tag them, and share them. However, it is absolutely no replacement for Flickr. Flickr does it better, and continually makes it better.

Foursquare and its contemporaries are very clever on how they get users to use their service. Foursquare has opened up APIs to keep it simple, and their user actions are already syndicated to the Facebook/Twitter. Foursquare has built game and reward mechanics that are genuinely engaging.

My newest startup is in the events/activities space. Facebook also has an events app/module, and it's second rate and barely scratches the surface on both the consumer and provider end of events. I fully plan on leveraging Facebook events to compliment my product. It doesn't have me running for the hills.

This is herd journalism.. the demise of [x] because [Y] has entered the market.