The Mapquest is not the territory

Cory Doctorow 12:18 pm Wed Sep 18, 2002

Good Wired News piece about the rampant innaccuracy and weird glitches of GIS systems like Mapquest. I wish they'd explored some of the technical reasons for the wonkiness, though. As someone without any sense of direction, I really rely on these things, especially GPSes in rental cars, and yes, I do get lost all the time, but I find it nerdily comforting to know that I'm getting lost due to a computer's inability to solve the Travelling Salesman Problem.

"I have never once — seriously, not ever once — gotten the right directions from MapQuest," said Naomi Graychase. "I don't know what sense of twisted optimism makes me continue to use the fucking service — somehow it's the only real option, you know?"

Graychase, who lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, recently got lost looking for Webster Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut (about 40 miles away). MapQuest estimated the trip would take about 48 minutes. But after a half-hour drive and a series of wrong turns — including bearing left on a one-way street going the opposite direction — Graychase spent an additional 30 minutes trying to find the theater, which was located just five minutes from the offramp.

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