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Two Crabs
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8 months ago
in The Election From Overseas on Everything Everywhere
Wow. With those kind of opinions, maybe it's good that you did not vote. But IMHO, voting is not just a right, it's a civic duty of all Americans. It's the apathetic that give Americans a bad name.
And for the record, you could have easily and freely found out where you are registered to vote simply by calling or emaiing one of the many voting registration websites and voting activist groups. Even the third party candidate websites had information for registering to vote.
And for the record, you could have easily and freely found out where you are registered to vote simply by calling or emaiing one of the many voting registration websites and voting activist groups. Even the third party candidate websites had information for registering to vote.
1 reply
8 months ago
in Step Away From the Lonely Planet: A Requiem for Travel Guidebooks on Everything Everywhere
Well, this is quite an interesting conversation. I, too, am a Lonely Planet guidebook author. And I actually agree with some of what you wrote. But as a veteran of traveling, living or working in 53 countries, I wholeheartedly disagree with you that the era of the guidebook is over. To all these people who are claiming you can get buy with just the Internet, iPhones, and Blackberry's, I ask: what happens when you go to a country that has no cell/mobile phone system? Folks who have only traveled to the safe confines of North America, Western Europe and Australia may be shocked -- SHOCKED -- to discover that many countries have no mobile phone network, or access may be spotty at best. In places like Northern Iraq, there is cell phone service but access is prohibitively expensive. I have also been to places where nobody has ever even HEARD of the Internet. What do you do then? Even in Europe, why would I want to spend time and money in an internet cafe when the basic information is readily available at my fingertips? I concur that information is often outdated in guidebooks; one of the dirty secrets of guidebook publishing is that information is 6-12 months old by the time the book hits the shelves. That's why many companies like Lonely Planet have online compendiums where we post updated information for the book. Information from readers and locals posted on our Thorn Tree forum has been priceless for my pre-trip research. When I travel for fun, I do it both ways: I take the most current guidebook, but also do some online research before I go to get the updated info. There are also days when I say guidebook-be-damned, shove it in the rucksack and wander aimlessly for fun. But for the most part, I do not enjoy being lost or uninformed. But hey that's me. Guidebooks and online travel research can and do co-exist. Bottom line: guidebooks are here to stay.
1 reply
Gary Arndt
While I haven't been everywhere (yet), I have been to some pretty remote places. I have yet to find a country without internet access or a mobile phone system. In fact, mobile phones are the fastest industry in most developing countries throughout Africa. I saw companies like Digicell all over the Pacific including Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guiena. I was able to get online in every country I've visited (which honestly, has surprised me)
Yes, there are rural areas without any of those things, and you can find them in developing countries as well. That doesn't mean you should default to Lonely Planet, it just means you need to compile your research before you go there. I expect guidebook information to be the most up to date for heavily populated tourist locations like Paris, London or New York. I expect it to be the most out of date for exactly the places you mention: remote out of the way, infrequently visited places. The type that there have little demand for guidebooks, and hence, little investment in their research.
We will always have guidebooks, I don't deny that. We still have AM radio. But like newspapers, magazines and other old media, its influence going to diminish and the business will fundamentally have to change.
How information is compiled may move to user created content, or information sharing deals with flight/hotel and other websites. The notion of sending someone to a different country might get replaces by just finding a person in that community to compile the information. Information might be available for the iPhone or Kindle, or some yet unknown device.
Yes, there are rural areas without any of those things, and you can find them in developing countries as well. That doesn't mean you should default to Lonely Planet, it just means you need to compile your research before you go there. I expect guidebook information to be the most up to date for heavily populated tourist locations like Paris, London or New York. I expect it to be the most out of date for exactly the places you mention: remote out of the way, infrequently visited places. The type that there have little demand for guidebooks, and hence, little investment in their research.
We will always have guidebooks, I don't deny that. We still have AM radio. But like newspapers, magazines and other old media, its influence going to diminish and the business will fundamentally have to change.
How information is compiled may move to user created content, or information sharing deals with flight/hotel and other websites. The notion of sending someone to a different country might get replaces by just finding a person in that community to compile the information. Information might be available for the iPhone or Kindle, or some yet unknown device.
I disagree profusely that it is a duty, especially given how the process works and how it gives only two real choices, which are so beholden to interest groups.
To quote Emma Goldman: "If voting could really change anything, they'd make it illegal".