Ann's blog on google earth
Ann’s Blog #9:
“The Google ‘ick’ factor” (cnn.com, June 4, 2007)
There has been some recent controversy over the image capabilities of Google. Basically, people are just concerned for the privacy of people. “In San Francisco, there's a man picking his nose on a street corner, another fellow taking out the trash and another guy scaling the outside of an apartment building, perhaps just for fun or maybe for some more sinister purpose. Further down the highway at Stanford University, there's the titillation of a couple coeds sunbathing in their bikinis. In San Jose, there's the rather sad sight of a bearded man apparently sleeping -- or did he just pass out? -- in the shadow of a garbage can, with what appears to be an empty cup perched in front of him.
In Miami, there's a group of protesters carrying signs outside an abortion clinic. In other cities, you can see men entering adult book stores or leaving strip joints.” Scenes like these are making people wonder whether the Internet's leading search engine has gone too far.
When it is talked about like it is in the examples, it really is ‘ick.’ There is a matter of privacy on the line. When I go about my daily life I shouldn’t have to be constantly thinking that there is always someone watching me. The average person isn’t a celebrity; we shouldn’t have to deal with loss of privacy. Also, this creates a lot of room for people with stalker-ish tendencies to go crazy. Which is a disturbing thought. While I can totally see where people have concerns, I can also defend Google. It is really a cool thing to be able to do. If you think about it in less of a stalker mindset, you can visualize revisiting a city that you visited on your last year’s vacation. You can say, “oh yeah, that restaurant on the corner was amazing” and “that’s where we saw the hummingbird.” It is a cool way of being able to relive your fond memories. Also, if this technology is readily available for all people, think about how long the CIA and the government has had their hands on things like this. I understand that there are limitations on stuff like this legally, but in the hands of a corrupt individual? It’s weird to think about what my government could know about me if they wanted to…and now what my aunt could know about me, or the stalker down the street. But ultimately with technology things, there will always be controversy at the beginning until people get used to it. That is just something that we are going to have to accept; technology changes our lives emensly.
Article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/06/01/google.candid.camera.ap/index.html
Picture from:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/06/01/google.candid.camera.ap/index.html
“The Google ‘ick’ factor” (cnn.com, June 4, 2007)
There has been some recent controversy over the image capabilities of Google. Basically, people are just concerned for the privacy of people. “In San Francisco, there's a man picking his nose on a street corner, another fellow taking out the trash and another guy scaling the outside of an apartment building, perhaps just for fun or maybe for some more sinister purpose. Further down the highway at Stanford University, there's the titillation of a couple coeds sunbathing in their bikinis. In San Jose, there's the rather sad sight of a bearded man apparently sleeping -- or did he just pass out? -- in the shadow of a garbage can, with what appears to be an empty cup perched in front of him.
In Miami, there's a group of protesters carrying signs outside an abortion clinic. In other cities, you can see men entering adult book stores or leaving strip joints.” Scenes like these are making people wonder whether the Internet's leading search engine has gone too far.
When it is talked about like it is in the examples, it really is ‘ick.’ There is a matter of privacy on the line. When I go about my daily life I shouldn’t have to be constantly thinking that there is always someone watching me. The average person isn’t a celebrity; we shouldn’t have to deal with loss of privacy. Also, this creates a lot of room for people with stalker-ish tendencies to go crazy. Which is a disturbing thought. While I can totally see where people have concerns, I can also defend Google. It is really a cool thing to be able to do. If you think about it in less of a stalker mindset, you can visualize revisiting a city that you visited on your last year’s vacation. You can say, “oh yeah, that restaurant on the corner was amazing” and “that’s where we saw the hummingbird.” It is a cool way of being able to relive your fond memories. Also, if this technology is readily available for all people, think about how long the CIA and the government has had their hands on things like this. I understand that there are limitations on stuff like this legally, but in the hands of a corrupt individual? It’s weird to think about what my government could know about me if they wanted to…and now what my aunt could know about me, or the stalker down the street. But ultimately with technology things, there will always be controversy at the beginning until people get used to it. That is just something that we are going to have to accept; technology changes our lives emensly.
Article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/06/01/google.candid.camera.ap/index.html
Picture from:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/06/01/google.candid.camera.ap/index.html
posted by ann @ 10:00 PM
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