Online Accuracy: The Hollywood Sign Approach
November 24, 2014
I read “Why People Keep Trying to Erase the Hollywood Sign from Google Maps.” The write up underscores the fluidity of the notion about accurate online information. Last time I was in Hollywood, I gave my talk at an intel conference and beat a quick path back to Kentucky. For those who think that life has not been lived until one stands at the base of a giant letter, Google Maps, if the write up is correct, may give you an extra workout. Here’s the passage I noted:
Even though Google Maps clearly marks the actual location of the sign, something funny happens when you request driving directions from any place in the city. The directions lead you to Griffith Observatory, a beautiful 1920s building located one mountain east from the sign, then—in something I’ve never seen before, anywhere on Google Maps—a dashed gray line arcs from Griffith Observatory, over Mt. Lee, to the sign’s site. Walking directions show the same thing.
Obviously in the world of online this is the only instance of information being modified so it does not match reality. I am comforted unlike some folks.
Stephen E Arnold, November 24, 2014
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