Culture : Space

Navigation Technology

 

Henry Grabar's article "Smartphones and the Uncertain Future of 'Spatial Thinking'" hit home!  A recent experience navigating DC left me with a sense of unease as I was unable to recall any of the street names near a place that I visit often. I relate to the following: 

"But I've lately undergone a crisis of confidence: I find it hard to hit the road without consulting my phone. And while I'd like to think the recommended route (from Google, Waze, Hopstop, etc.) is just one influence among many—that I have other preferences their algorithms can't perceive—I'm not too proud to confess that I trust the computer more than I trust myself. The habits, hubris, and quirky predilections that once manipulated my movements are being replaced by the judgments of artificial intelligence."

Sitting in my car, I realized that not only do I not know the surrounding streets, but I also didn't have a sense of how to get home by car or foot.  I have become so dependent on the phone that I often use Google maps to orient myself while on foot!  

 

 

Crime Apps

Thank you Emily Badger (Atlantic Cities) for posting "Enough Already With the Avoid-The-Ghetto Apps." I shouldn't be astonished by an app named "GhettoTracker" (renamed "Good Part of Town") -- but with gentrification and growing interest in urban spaces by the middle class, these type of apps/websites shouldn't be surprising.

Related articles

'Ghetto Tracker,' App That Helps Rich Avoid Poor, Is As Bad As It Sounds

Google's Personal Maps

Evgeny Morozov wrote an interesting article, "My Map or Yours?," for Slate critiquing Google’s plan to personalize maps.  I agree with Morozo that there are social implications that need to be considered.

From the article:

 “Google's urbanism, on the other hand, is that of someone who is trying to get to a shopping mall in their self-driving car. It's profoundly utilitarian, even selfish in character, with little to no concern for how public space is experienced. In Google's world, public space is just something that stands between your house and the well-reviewed restaurant that you are dying to get to. Since no one formally reviews public space or mentions it in their emails, it might as well disappear from Google's highly personalized maps.”