Google has become the standard for many things in the technological age. People swear by it. They share documents and experiences and rely on it to give them accurate, useful, and reliable information. However, Google is a business like others, and in addition to their attempts to shelter their earnings offshore and avoid US Income Tax, there are a few people there who provide information that is of dubious value.
About a year ago, a friend of mine who is from Hawai'i pointed out that Google Maps directions from Las Vegas to his home in Hawai'i was neither logical nor helpful. Below you see a screenshot showing how to get from Vegas to Honolulu. Pay attention to step #26:
After 2756 miles, my arms would be VERY tired. Also, who was the last person who tried to Kayak across the Pacific Ocean? There are a lot of assumptions in this. What about rations? Water? Waste? Ocean Traffic? Do you have a permit?
Someone at Google needs a CAT Scan.
About a year ago, a friend of mine who is from Hawai'i pointed out that Google Maps directions from Las Vegas to his home in Hawai'i was neither logical nor helpful. Below you see a screenshot showing how to get from Vegas to Honolulu. Pay attention to step #26:
After 2756 miles, my arms would be VERY tired. Also, who was the last person who tried to Kayak across the Pacific Ocean? There are a lot of assumptions in this. What about rations? Water? Waste? Ocean Traffic? Do you have a permit?
Someone at Google needs a CAT Scan.
1 comment:
It's supposed to be a joke. After all, who asks *driving* directions across a span of water that large? Especially when you know there is no roadway to get to said place?
Speaking programatically, that could throw an error. Part of a programmer's job is to catch errors like this gracefully so it doesnt break the user experience with your software.
This is just one example of clever programmers meeting someone's unmeetable expectations with an unmeetable solution.
Could they have just told you "there is no route via road?" Of course, and I'm sure other instances of google maps does just that. But a request this outrageous got what it deserved: an equally outrageous response.
TL;DR: Google has a sense of humor.
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