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HOME  - Privatization Bringing technology to Oregon's roadside attractions
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Bringing technology to Oregon's roadside attractions |
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Written by Scott Silver
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Wednesday, 14 June 2006 |
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Pasted below is an article from today's Oregonian in which I'm quoted.
The subject about which I spoke was that of bringing technology to the Great Outdoors in general, and to Oregon's top tourist attraction, Multnomah Falls, in specific. I would just add that this issue involves much MORE than cell-towers in National Parks and wi-fi hotspots wherever nature is put on display.
To better appreciate how transformational the incursion of technology will be to what you think of when you think of nature, who might look over the top 20 ideas being touted, and promoted, by the American Recreation Coalition www.funoutdoors.com/node/view/1080 . My favorite, "Talking Trees" is item #14.
Scott
PS... the many references within this article to RVs are significant. The founder of the ARC was the President of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association.
--- begin quoted ---
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-15/115026896438980.xml&storylist=orlocal
6/14/2006 - The Associated Press
Top tourist attraction has wireless access
MULTNOMAH FALLS, Ore. (AP) - One of the top tourist attractions in Oregon has gone wireless.
The state has installed a wireless hot spot at Multnomah Falls in the
Columbia River Gorge as part of a pilot program to provide access at
rest stops, parks and waysides across Oregon.
"Someone could take their picture of the falls, sit down here and
download it to their laptop and e-mail it to their grandmother," says
Craig Tutor, development and marketing manager for the Oregon Travel
Information Council. The council began setting up wireless hot spots
last summer.
The falls are one of seven wireless locations so far. Two new hot spots
- at South Beach State Park at Newport and D River Wayside at Lincoln
City - will come on line this month.
Free access is limited, however, to some travel and other sponsored
sites, such as Oregon State Parks. Access to the rest of the Web costs
$1.99 for 20 minutes, $3.99 for the day, $7.99 for a week or $29.99 a
month.
Coach Connect Inc., a Texas company, is providing the wireless
networks. The estimated cost so far has been $25,000 - paid by travel
council money, which comes from highway sign leasing, grants and
donations, Tutor said.
The most likely users are truckers and an increasing number of
recreational vehicle travelers, whom Tutor calls "the rubber tire
traffic crowd" traveling with their laptops.
"They are checking their e-mail. They're even doing their banking," Tutor said.
RV ownership is at an all-time high - almost one in 12 auto-owning
households - and more than a third access the Internet from their
vehicles, according to a survey by the Recreational Vehicle Industry
Association.
Larry Rebich, a Web designer who owns an RV park in Clarkston, Wash.,
said he'll probably use the wired sites for quick checks while he's in
transit. "Whenever I get the hot spots, I check the e-mail," Rebich
said.
But critics are concerned it will reduce appreciation for the outdoors experience.
"It's awful," said Scott Silver of Bend, director of the nonprofit Wild
Wilderness, which fights commercialization. "It takes the whole idea of
adventure out of travel, and it replaces it with being on a hidden
track just like you are on a ride in Disneyland."
The "Road Connect" hot spots will be in place for two years to gauge
whether user interest justifies expanding the system statewide. Tutor
hopes the service eventually will be entirely free, paid for by
advertising revenue.
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