I wonder if it's possible for information to become too accessible? For instance, hikers—and, of course, photographers—can now go online to see five live or recent views of scenic vistas around Yosemite National Park taken by automatic fixed cameras. Not the right light or weather conditions? Not the kind of cloud formations that suit your fancy? Ho, hum—no need to get out of bed, then. Just roll over and go back to sleep.
The picture above was taken from Turtleback Dome, elevation 5266 feet, at 9:00 p.m. PDT last night. (Rather amusingly—but of course, perfectly accurately—the live cams show rectangles of plain black many nights.)
I have to admit, though, that if you're nowhere near Yosemite, living the life vicarious via webcam can be oddly soothing sometimes. I kinda like it.
_____________
Mike
I used the "AngelCam" along with weather reports to plan for a recent day trip to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. The camera is here:
http://www.angelisland.org/angelcam/cove.htm
I waited several weeks for good weather and an employee at the park said it was the first day in a while that you could see the Golden Gate bridge from the island. So I'm all for webcams like this one.
Posted by: Bruce McL | Tuesday, 12 June 2007 at 02:40 AM
The concept "Who needs to be there?" is one of the saddest things I've heard. And one that reflects what a lot of people think. I've noticed that most people's idea of the dream trip would be staying on a spaceship and being "beamed down" by the your Eiffel side just a couple of minutes to get the snapshot and back to the mother ship, en route to another two minutes by the pyramids. Poor things. They live inside a plastic bag, even if they will never notice it.
By the way, about the art market, there's an excellent article about it at The Economist.
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9231869
Posted by: Max | Tuesday, 12 June 2007 at 08:29 PM