When I want to check the weather now-a-days, I click the "Weather Channel" icon on my phone. It's usually fairly accurate, except it keeps placing me in Milwaukee, Wisconsin instead of home in Minnesota. It's set to always use my current location, but more often than not, I check, then look more closely and realize it's moved me across Wisconsin once again. Stupid electronics! I'd be a lot warmer right now if I was in Milwaukee. Instead, I'm in 15 degree temps right now, creeping up to a few degrees above freezing.
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There are five hours of travel between St Paul (left) and Milwaukee (right). But my Weather Channel app keeps on trying to place my location in Milwaukee instead of back home in St Paul. Sometimes I don't catch it right away and wonder why my weather doesn't look like their description. *sigh* Silly machine! |
When I order Subway sandwiches on-line, their program consistently pushes my location approximately 15-20 miles south. I always have to change it back to my suburb and the location of my preference. I only order from one computer, and it's a desktop - doesn't go a-wandering or walk-about, but Google consistently claims I'm not at the location where I actually am.
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I'm sure most of my readers have heard about the aboriginal "walk-about" in Australia. Did you know there is a quilting pattern that's also called "Walkabout"? It's quite lovely, isn't it? |
It does make me wonder, though. As we progress through human intelligence into cyber-intelligence, are we really gaining anything? The military talks about flying planes remotely half a world away. That's great for our military forces - people won't be in harm's way, they'll be in a control room flying as if they were in a video game. But if there are problems with locations similar to what I experience with Google and the Weather Channel, what's good for the operator may be deadly for the non-combatant citizens who may end up as collateral damage because of poor location plotting abilities.
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I grew up with this style of telephone. It was bulky, heavy, and there were two options - desktop or wall mounted. I still remember my telephone number from when I was a kid - before area codes. I also remember that we had a party line for our Aspen house phone. That phone was a wall mounted style. |
When we were kids, we all learned our addresses and our phone numbers. It was drilled into us by our parents in case we ever got separated in a mall, at a fair, or just trying to get home in a rainstorm. We knew where we were, what was around us, and how to get from Point A to Point B in our neighborhoods. We knew what bus to catch to go shopping; either the broader area or even downtown. We didn't need to ask Google, that option was far in the future. Heck, we still had telephones with actual dials and heavy receivers that were wired to the walls.
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I might grumble about my electronics sometimes, but really? I can't imagine being without my little black box of magic at all. I read on it, play games on it, text back and forth with DH and friends on it. I keep in touch with the world with it, and even call people if I have to. I'm quite fond of my modern electronics. |
Have we improved our options because of our electronics? I'm not sure ... I certainly can't give it a 100% "Oh Yeah!" cheer. But, there is so much to love about the world we live in today, even compared to only 20-30 years ago. I'll choose today, thank you. I'll take my phone, remind it that I don't live in Milwaukee, check my weather, play my games, and read my books. All on one small light-weight black box of magic that I carry with me at all times. Life is good. Have a wonderful day and please, be kind, stay safe, and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow.
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