If Google maps told you to jump off of a bridge, would you do it? This story about the lady suing Google for giving directions that led to her making a poor decision and being injured is absurd. Does their mapping software know what streets have sidewalks and which do not? If this litigation is successful, then Google has to start imposing complex or impossible restrictions on this service. I use Google maps very frequently, along with millions of other people and I would be upset if there were a reduction in the quality of my service because some idiot couldn't recognize a potential danger.
Personally I think this case is ludicrous and should be tossed out of court. People need to realize that technology is fallible, especially complex algorithms that tell you the best way to travel between two points. If your blackberry tells you to jump off a bridge, I would expect you to take a moment for sober second thought...don't start untying your shoes...
I wonder who one sued for getting lost prior to the advent of these electronic maps. Perhaps people back then were intelligent enough to know that they either determined the best route to their destination by reading an old fashioned paper map or they took a taxi.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that any lawyer would even take such a ridiculous case demonstrates just how low that profession has sunk.
As a postscript to my previous post: Yeah, a lot of people would jump off a bridge if Google told them to do so. A surprisingly large number of people are so used to someone, or something, telling them what to do that they have lost the ability to reason for themselves. Their identities have become so entwined with their electronic gadgets that they have no life beyond Facebook or twitter et al: the medium really has become the message.
ReplyDeleteAlmost as ridiculous as the lady suing her cell phone company for breaking up her marriage.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a GPS but have travelled with someone who has. Took us right to a construction site where the road was being repaired.
If I want to get lost, I will rely on my husband to not stop and ask directions. (as many women do)