Blogs as Sources

In addition to the two sites I found that were good, credible sources about technology and travel, I also found many that were bad or unable to be used for some other reason. One such site was a blog entitled, Travel Technology. The author of the blog, Norm Rose, is a veteran of the travel industry with 28 years under his belt. He is also the president of Travel Tech Consulting. While his blog may have some great stories and credible information, it is still not a website students or professionals would want to cite in papers. Blogs are, however, a good source for further information. If you see a story on a blog, it can be researched some more until a more credible source has been found with more information about it. So while blogs are not necessarily the best source for a citation in a paper, they are a good starting point for further research.

A Credible Source

Along the same topic as the last post, the next credible source about technology and travel is the Journal of Information Technology and Travel. This journal brings together tourism and information technology because there have been many “advances in the use and development of tools, technologies, and methodologies that have facilitated the efficient netting of information and communication systems in travel and tourism,” (Source). Every article submitted to the journal goes through a process of peer review by at least two reviewers. These peer reviews add to the credibility of the journal because it adds to the legitimacy of each article.

The journal, which has been published since 1998, “focuses both on academia perspectives and practical applications,” (Source). This means that they have articles that use empirical evidence to support a theory or hypothesis developed by the author. It also means that they have articles that relate to the average person that can use the information for their everyday lives. The Journal of Information Technology and Travel is relevant to both researchers and everyday people because of the fact that they focus on practical applications in addition to academia perspectives. The reason why this journal is better than most, which mainly focus only on the academia perspective, is because it is not only relevant to a select group of people. For these reasons, the Journal of Information Technology and Travel is a relevant and credible source for information about technology and travel. 

Travel Weekly, a good source

Travel Weekly is both an online and print newspaper, which covers the travel industry. This includes destinations, products for travel, and new technology used by the travel industry. They claim to be “the most influential B2B news resources for the travel industry, ” (Source). Since they keep up to date with all the news and even provide breaking stories online, Travel Weekly is a good source for travel needs. There is also a blog section on their website which provides another perspective on the industry. Also, there are statistical facts and support provided whenever necessary for a story or report. Since Travel Weekly has so much going on in terms of writers, perspectives and constant updates, it is a good source for information about travel and technology. 

Searching vs. Surfing

In the article, Searching Versus Surfing: How Different Ways of Acquiring Content Online Affect Cognitive Processing by Kevin Wise, Ph.D. and Hyo Jung Kim, M.A., a study was performed to find out what the differences were between searching the Internet and surfing it. To do this, they assigned some people a task to find a specific item, while the other people were allowed to browse freely. To figure out what the differences were, they measured the heart rates of the individuals before and during the tests. The surfers had a steadier heart rate through the time, while the searchers had a fluctuating rate based on whether or not they found what they were looking for. In addition to measuring the heart rates, the study also tested how well the two groups recognized the images after the test. They found that the searchers recognized the images better than the surfers. These results show that there is definitely a difference between surfing and searching for content. 

The concepts in this article can also be related to travel. For travel purposes, let’s think of searching as knowing exactly where you want to go and just skipping everything between point A and point B and surfing as having a vague idea of where you want to go and stopping all along the way. In this scenario people who go to one place would most likely be more excited to get there and then remember it more than people who were surfing. If you were to ‘surf travel’ then you are less likely to remember every place you saw along the way. In this way, surfing and searching both the web and travel are very similar.

Response to Time Article

In the article Battle for the Soul of the Internet, which is from 2005, it says that two people stirred up an international controversy all because of some spam they sent out. Unfortunately, this is going to happen whenever something like the Internet is being used. Since the Internet is so large and so accessible, things like this are bound to happen. It is impossible for the Internet to be fully protected because once people find a way to block spammers or hackers, they will always find a new way to get around the blocks. The idea to separate the Internet into ‘neighborhoods,’ as suggested by an Electronic Frontier Foundation board member, is a good idea on paper, but in reality I don’t see it being good for the web. While it is a good idea to deny access to certain sites to specific groups of people, however, once you do that, the concept of the Internet is compromised. On the other hand, having a system available like Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link is good for people who want something like that. It is unreasonable to think that everyone should join a ‘gated community’ like WELL, but for people who are looking for some security and safety from threats on the Internet it is a good idea. These issues of security and privacy still exist today and always will exist. As long as the Internet remains as a place where people can post, comment, email and do everything else, there will always be security issues. I don’t think this issue will ever be fully resolved so, the best people can do is find ways to block new threats. 

A Short History of Technology used for Travel

When Christopher Columbus set sail from Europe in 1942, he didn’t know exactly where he would end up. He didn’t have Global Positioning Satellites, Google Earth, Mapquest or even paper maps, as we know them today. He just set sail and was going to see where he landed. He traveled away from his native land without any of the modern technology so many people rely on today.

Jump ahead to the late 80’s, early 90’s and you have GPS units being produced for use in civilian cars. Until this point, the satellites orbiting the earth were used for military purposes. Then, even once they were starting to use them for civilian use, they still were not very accurate because the military would not give the units an accurate signal. It was not until 2000 when Bill Clinton was president that the government allowed civilians to have a more accurate signal. After this, GPS devices slowly made their way into the cars of the average Americans. Now, a larger number of cars have the option of being built with the GPS screens as part of the main console in the car.

While all this was going on with screens appearing in car, GM was busy developing their own navigation system. Their answer was OnStar. With OnStar, people just push a button and start talking with someone who would help however possible. With this technology, people were able to get turn-by-turn directions by voice from a speaker in the car. This particular technology didn’t find its way into GM cars until the 1997 model year in just a few cars. The service, which requires a subscription, became more prominent in GM vehicles in the mid 2000s. It is still being developed today with the addition of reading text messages out loud and ability to sync it with Facebook and the addition of voice controls.

Other key players in the area of technology for travel use are MapQuest and Google. MapQuest had the first popular online route finder. All you have to do is plug in the starting point and final destination and it creates the best route for you. This is a lot different from what Columbus went through on his journey. Not to be outdone by MapQuest, in 2005, Google introduced their own online direction finding service with Google Maps. It did essentially the same thing as MapQuest; however, Google offered a satellite image of the area, something that MapQuest didn’t have until 2007. Then Google came out with a program for download called Google Earth. This allows people to use satellite images and search through the whole world. Now people can see a place before they actually travel there.

The technology used for traveling has certainly come a long way from what Columbus used in 1492. And while the popular instruments have changed over time from paper maps to GPS units, there is still a need for maps in order to travel. This shift from maps to satellites is just the beginning of the changes that are bound to happen to the technology used for travel.

Welcome

Technology is changing the way we do everything these days. How we read, learn, interact with people, and travel has all been changed due to technology. Whether we like it or not, it is all changing from the way things used to be. As a geography major, I will be focusing on the effects of technology on travel and outdoor activities. I am interested in learning more about how people feel using new technology and how they are utilizing it.

Just a couple years ago when people wanted to travel somewhere by car, they would use paper maps to figure out the best route to get somewhere. Then they would bring these maps with them in case they needed to change their route during the trip. Now, there are some people who solely rely on the Global Positioning Satellite unit in their car, most times without any sort of paper map in the car. Occasionally, some people may map out the route with Mapquest or Google Earth before the trip in order to get a general idea of where they’re driving.

In this blog I will be investigating the way travel has been changed and is evolving because of technology. I will be exploring both the benefits and detriments to getting more technologically advanced in the travel world. Also, I will research the difference between the older and younger generations in terms of how this new technology is being used and who is using it more.

Another interesting aspect that will be explored is the increasing use of electronics while doing outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, or fishing. There are increasing numbers of people who use handheld GPS devices while doing these activities. While some people find these new instruments useful, other find them to be an interruption of their outdoor experiences.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this blog goes and how it evolves through the semester. So, welcome and I hope you enjoy it.