After reading the review of Toward the Virtual City and The Crisis of Place from Walking Off the Big Apple, I think it will be the next book I read on my goal of reading 52 book in 52 weeks. At the end of the review there’s an interesting take on tech. today in the city.
Location-based mobile applications, computer simulations, geo-tagging programs, Street View maps, and other forms of augmented reality threaten to turn the city into a computer game, replacing our traditional bonds of place with strategic plans to conquer them. Special places that once upon a time may have had some personal meaning become winning check-in points for someone else’s venture capital. Engaging with strangers in simulated reality, walking to meetups while texting or talking or consulting the glowing GPS to locate oneself, may open exciting avenues for sociability and connection, but we may lose the city in the process.
That’s something interesting to consider as I tap away on my iPhone as I walk on my way…
