D'Val Westphal, the "Road Warrior" correspondent for my local paper, the Albuquerque Journal, had a insightful column on Monday on why we should never, ever fully trust Google maps to get directions.
The Albuquerque International Sunport -- the grandiloquent name for the local airport that has no international flights -- adjoins and shares runways with Kirtland Air Fore Base.
If you use Google Maps to get directions from Santa Fe to the airport, you'll be taken not to the airport terminal but to the front gate of Kirtland, Westphal pointed out in her article. (Subscription required.)
A bemused security guard at Kirtland kept wondering why panicked tourists rushing to make a flight kept ending up at his post. The guard soon discovered they all had been misdirected by Google, Westphal said.
The unnamed guard then went online to fix the Google Map problem. That worked for about a week until Google reverted to its old ways and, once again, guided folks to Kirtland.
Westphal then called Google, to little avail, because, well, as you know, the telephone and Alexander Graham Bell are so 19th century.
Maybe the column will finally spur Google to stop funneling innocents the wrong way to the Sunport. Kudos to Westphal and the security guard at Kirtland for taking the human approach to solve a digital problem.
Bob Brewin
Bob Brewin joined Government Executive in April 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a journalist focusing on defense issues and technology. Bob covers the world of defense and information technology for Nextgov, and is the author of the “What’s Brewin” blog.
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