Uhh. Just drove back from Athenry. The GPS did a great job, but it brought me by ways I knew not. A transaction based purely on trust. Our modernised country roads; beautifully paved and marked but still crazily meandering. Blind bends you round to find that they conceal other blind bends. In the dark. In the rain. A red dot following a purple line.
A microcosm of my life in the last few days, even weeks.
Probably months.
I didn’t know where I was and I only thought I knew where I was going. But somehow, I got home.
A transaction based purely on trust.
8 replies on “Life In The Fast, Narrow, Dark Lane”
From Wikipedia: “[Athenry] lies 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Galway.”
You have the gift to make half an hour’s drive read like an epic!
Then again, I use GPS to walk to the supermarket these days, it’s so useful. What I want next is HUD technology + augmented reality. Wouldn’t it be cool in your scenario with the blind bends to be able to see through the bend by means of an augmented reality projection on the windscreen?
It was epic! Even if I was merely returning from a big Italian meal in a small neighbouring town. Belly full, but heart overflowing. It came after several emotionally exhausting days. Aside from my heart’s own troubles, there was the funeral of a cousin not a lot older than myself just two days before.
(It was more well over half an hour in fact, as I was (a) heading to my family’s village rather than my own flat in town and (b) avoiding the motorway.)
From Wikipedia: “[Athenry] lies 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Galway.”
You have the gift to make half an hour’s drive read like an epic!
Then again, I use GPS to walk to the supermarket these days, it’s so useful. What I want next is HUD technology + augmented reality. Wouldn’t it be cool in your scenario with the blind bends to be able to see through the bend by means of an augmented reality projection on the windscreen?
It was epic! Even if I was merely returning from a big Italian meal in a small neighbouring town. Belly full, but heart overflowing. It came after several emotionally exhausting days. Aside from my heart’s own troubles, there was the funeral of a cousin not a lot older than myself just two days before.
(It was more well over half an hour in fact, as I was (a) heading to my family’s village rather than my own flat in town and (b) avoiding the motorway.)
Who would pay for that service? If it’s a free thing from Google you know it will be paid with ads. And even though people describe Google’s ad software with awe the truth is the people looking to place ad are as crappy as ever. So behind that blind bend you’ll be able to see…flat abs, ill-placed ads for dating sites, offers of thousands of dollars working from home, etc.
Targeted ad placement is a no-win situation. The more accurately they reflect my true desires and needs, the more I feel like a rat pinned down with electrodes in my brain.
Don’t think I could ever trust driving by virtual reality… I would like a HUD though. I have the phone/GPS mounted on the dashboard, which means it’s just a little too off-centre to read without taking my attention from the road – and a little too distant to read, full stop. Perhaps at sunshade level would be better, where I could see it at an upward glance.
Who would pay for that service? If it’s a free thing from Google you know it will be paid with ads. And even though people describe Google’s ad software with awe the truth is the people looking to place ad are as crappy as ever. So behind that blind bend you’ll be able to see…flat abs, ill-placed ads for dating sites, offers of thousands of dollars working from home, etc.
Targeted ad placement is a no-win situation. The more accurately they reflect my true desires and needs, the more I feel like a rat pinned down with electrodes in my brain.
Don’t think I could ever trust driving by virtual reality… I would like a HUD though. I have the phone/GPS mounted on the dashboard, which means it’s just a little too off-centre to read without taking my attention from the road – and a little too distant to read, full stop. Perhaps at sunshade level would be better, where I could see it at an upward glance.