Loon Has Rough Landing
March 14, 2015
I liked balloons when I was a more youthful version of my ageing self. Now I find the specter of balloons floating over my home during the Kentucky Derby Festival annoying. One of my boxers gets nervous when the shape floats and hisses as the adventurers ignite their burners to keep the puppy, beer can, or globular advertisements aloft.
I read with some enjoyment “It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! Google Balloon Crash Alarms Town.” (If the article disappears, complain to the publisher, not me. Thanks.) I won’t quote from the source because it carries the pound banner of the Associated Press, and I don’t need its legal eagles flapping around my ears.
The point of the write up, as I understand it, is that a Google Loon balloon fell gently from the sky. The location is somewhere in Veracruz, the state, not the city. I know Google is into search, relevance, inventing the future, and trying to make money as the desktop search model erodes. I know that balloons are generally a benign technology compared to asbestos mining or underwater surveillance of a hostile naval operation. I get it.
One question: What happens if one of these puppies drops gently on a children’s pre-school or does a death spiral into an outdoor market in a rural area?
Relevant? Nah, just search for balloon and get the Wikipedia hit here. I do like the first major entry under “applications”—“Decoration or Entertainment.” Providing wireless service to underserved populations earns nary a mention.
Stephen E Arnold, March 15, 2015
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