Mountain rescue teams in England have mixed feelings about mobiles: sure, they can save lives in an emergency, but misuse is a real problem according to mountain rescuer Stuart Hulse of the Lake District quoted in a great Times article. It's a good example of distraction technology at work.
"The mountain rescuers were scrambled and located them within 20 minutes. It transpired that, although the group had gone slightly out of their way, they had no transport and wanted to be driven back to their accommodation. “It would have cost them a fortune to get three taxis to take them all back to their base,” says Hulse. “So we ferried them back over the passes.” Mountain rescue today, he adds angrily, is increasingly becoming a “nannying and taxi service”.
Like many mountain rescuers, Hulse is in no doubt where the root of this problem lies. Mobile phones. Already considered the scourge of city dwellers, the ubiquitous mobile is now creating havoc in the countryside. It has, he says, created a new breed of climber and fellwalker who no longer sees the need to go out equipped with a torch, a compass, a map or even adequate clothing because he knows that help is just a phone call away. Common sense and personal responsibility have been replaced by complacency and the expectation of instant gratification."
I'm a keen mountain walker myself, and purchased a GAMIN GPS device several years ago. It's very useful and certainly helped me out of a sticky spot once in snow and fog up a big hill in Scotland. But I am aware as one friend said to me - "it's no substitute for a map and compass" - which of course don't need batteries. Indeed there is a certain pleasure in mastering the skills required for using the tools which the GAMIN somewhat takes away (though I'd prefer a better interface of course).
I heard the sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on the radio recently commenting on the achievement of Ellen MacArthur (fastest solo sail round the world). In the sixties Robin was first to do the feat non-stop. He was asked what differences there were then apart from the boat. There was no satnav, he commented, and he used the same techniques that Captain Cook had. He was also asked if he would have liked to be in contact via mobile phone, as Ellen was, in order to feel less lonely. Good god no he replied - half the point of being there in the ocean was solitude. I'm not quoting this with approval in a kind of wistful "those were the days" reverie, just reporting a considered alternative view on the value of technologies we begin to take for granted.
Many people may have seen this already - it was reported in late January and I'm grateful to Jo Rabin for catching it while I was on paternity leave.....
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