{"id":6799,"date":"2012-02-27T12:03:59","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T20:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/?p=6799"},"modified":"2013-02-21T18:47:51","modified_gmt":"2013-02-22T02:47:51","slug":"from-march-2008-archives-another-dire-zephyr-prediction-comes-true-stiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/27\/from-march-2008-archives-another-dire-zephyr-prediction-comes-true-stiles\/","title":{"rendered":"(from March 2008 archives) ANOTHER DIRE ZEPHYR PREDICTION COMES TRUE…Stiles."},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0 I wrote the following short piece for ‘Take it or Leave It,’ almost five years ago.\u00a0 Now it’s all happening.\u00a0 A story in today’s Arizona Daily Sun titled, “Google cameras map popular Grand Canyon trails”\u00a0 announced,\u00a0 Google “now has brought its all-seeing eyes _ mounted for the first time on a backpack _ down into the Grand Canyon, showcasing the attraction’s most popular hiking trails on the South Rim and other walkways.”<\/em><\/p>\n

What’s next? A Google hike to Landscape Arch? Down Courthouse Wash? A stroll to the ‘Harvest Scene?’<\/em><\/p>\n

There was a time when I’d expect an outcry from environmentalists but nowadays my guess is, they’ll just see it as a way to promote the natural beauty of the land as, incredibly, a way to protect it, via an expanded viewership who might send some money. <\/em><\/p>\n

Pitiful…..JS<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>March 2008 Zephyr Archives: <\/strong><\/p>\n

THE NEXT BIG THING?\u00a0 THE SATELLITE\/GROUND TOUR\u00a0 OF YOUR FAVORITE CANYON<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost impossible to dodge the label of hypocrisy these days. I claim to have Luddite leanings but I use a computer to publish this paper and I drive a car almost every day, and I climb onto a jumbo jet and travel thousands of miles each winter, just to escape to the \u2018simple life.\u2019 Though I don\u2019t have cable tv, I\u2019m mesmerized by it when I visit someone who does. And nothing astounds me more than Google Earth.<\/p>\n

Recently I Google Earthed my Aussie pal John Wringe\u2019s farm in Western Australia. I found Donnybrook, followed the highway to Kirup, turned right at the pub (home of Kiryp Syrup) and went west a few kilometers on a one-lane road. Finally I saw the familiar red tile roof, the work shed…I could even see cows in the paddock.<\/p>\n

And yet, like every other technological advance, it seems to take a another bit of mystery away from our world; I\u2019ve wondered what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

“What\u2019s next?”<\/p>\n

Apparently other mega-media companies are vying for the Google Earth market. When these guys start competing you know we can expect big changes. Big “improvements.” Now they\u2019ve found a way to integrate satellite aerial photography with ground imagery. Even as you read this, thousands of crews are crisscrossing the continent, with triple-mount cameras, recording every road and highway in America. Others are carrying hand-held cams that allow the photographer to take us just about anywhere.<\/p>\n

Imagine, according to one report on NPR, you\u2019ll even be able to shop in this fashion.<\/p>\n

You descend from geostationary orbit, 23,000 miles in space, heading for New York City, to Manhattan. You see the street grid below you. Fifth Avenue. Suddenly you\u2019re at sidewalk level, moving north, until you find the store you\u2019re looking for. You go inside, browse the shelves until you find something to buy, and click on the \u2018purchase now\u2019 button. Voila!<\/p>\n

But what about other applications?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve cursed backcountry guidebooks for years, but in the future, they may seem like quaint relics from a primitive past. Soon the same “green capitalists” who brought us the amenities economy\u2014the enviropreneurs— may be able to take guidebooks to their ultimately obscene conclusion. Consider for a moment, camera crews roaming every wilderness area in America. Every canyon. Every peak. Every pristine mountain lake. Imagine a technology so sophisticated and the resolution so clear that it even allows the viewer to check out nearby rock art or an old cowboy inscription or an especially notable wildflower.<\/p>\n

No one would ever have to wonder what lies around the next bend of the canyon. Or what\u2019s just over the next ridge. They\u2019ll know everything that awaits them, right down to the most intimate detail.<\/p>\n

In a world where people who have traveled thousands of miles to a national park and still ask, “Is this hike worth it?” (They\u2019re in a national park!), I can only assume that the general public, by the millions, will embrace this technology, when and if it becomes available.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The idea of wilderness, to me, always meant more than the resource itself. It was that unknown quality, the Mystery of it all, that drew me to it. I cannot imagine a natural world with no mysteries. With no more untold secrets.<\/p>\n

But do you know what really worries me? If these ideas become realities, if it becomes that easy to “explore,” will I have the strength not to look?<\/p>\n

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NOTE:\u00a0 I wrote the following short piece for ‘Take it or Leave It,’ almost five years ago.\u00a0 Now it’s all happening.\u00a0 A story in today’s Arizona Daily Sun titled, “Google cameras map popular Grand Canyon trails”\u00a0 announced,\u00a0 Google “now has brought its all-seeing eyes _ mounted for the first time on a backpack _ down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6799"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8360,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6799\/revisions\/8360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.canyoncountryzephyr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}