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National Park Service Says Tech Is Enabling Stupidity
theodp writes "The National Park Service is finding technology to be a double-edged sword. While new technologies can and do save lives, the NPS is also finding that unseasoned hikers and campers are now boldly going where they never would have gone before, counting on cellphones, GPS, and SPOT devices to bail them out if they get into trouble. Last fall, a group of hikers in the Grand Canyon called in rescue helicopters three times by pressing the emergency button on their satellite location device. When rangers arrived the second time, the hikers complained that their water supply tasted salty. 'Because of having that electronic device, people have an expectation that they can do something stupid and be rescued,' said a spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park. 'Every once in a while we get a call from someone who has gone to the top of a peak, the weather has turned and they are confused about how to get down and they want someone to personally escort them. The answer is that you are up there for the night.'"
"Yeah, sure. It, along with the Republicans, is busy reinforcing the idea that the free market is here to take care of all your wants and desires. You have a problem? Call the free market, it's supposed to take care of you in every way possible.
This is the very predictable outcome of conservative policies that encourage people to trust companies for everything rather than look to themselves to take care of themselves."
FTFY. Yay off-topic idiotic knee jerk rhetoric! It can easily swing both ways.
>>>I was angry as hell. Consider this: If I hadn't called 9-1-1, I would have been a criminal [for letting baby die]. And by calling 9-1-1, I make myself liable for an emergency services bill.
You forgot the third option:
Don't have a baby if you are not willing to take-on the expenses of raising it/keeping it alive. Option 3 would have avoided the catch-22 you found yourself in.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall