Technology IS stupid on it’s own….
And some of us trust it without question….
And a LOT of us are now lost without it….
An assistant wandered the streets of Berlin with the wagon in tow, smartphones piled inside. As he made his way down a given street, according to a video Weckert shared on his website, it would go from green to orange to red on Google Maps. All the while, the streets were mostly empty.
It’s a striking contrast, Weckert said. “The guy with the handcart with 99 smartphones in it trying to fight against, trying to interrupt, a system run by a huge tech giant.”
In a statement responding to questions about the stunt, Google spokeswoman Ivy Hunt noted that traffic data is “refreshed continuously” from multiple sources — including phones that have location services turned on.
“We’ve launched the ability to distinguish between cars and motorcycles in several countries including India, Indonesia and Egypt, though we haven’t quite cracked traveling by wagon,” she wrote. “We appreciate seeing creative uses of Google Maps like this as it helps us make maps work better over time.”
On his website, Weckert noted that the app has “fundamentally changed our understanding of what a map is, how we interact with maps, their technological limitations and how they look aesthetically.” In this way, he wrote, they “make virtual changes to the real city.”
He said “Google Maps Hacks” is meant to raise questions about the level of trust people have put in technology, as well as the ways society has adapted to it. The project has indeed drawn attention: Weckert’s tweet sharing his work garnered more than 15,000 retweets and almost 35,000 likes, a mix of skepticism, irritation and praise. It’s resonating with people for a reason, he said….