No.
Yeah who needs it? I can already upload my selfies from the NPs with my iPhone....
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
We don't "need" wi-fi anywhere, much less in National Parks. Rather than "increase connectivity" in NPS units, I'd like to see an FCC exception that permits the Park Service to jam visitors' devices. If that caused visitation to drop off precipitously over time, all the better. Let Parks 'devolve' into wilderness areas, reducing budgets in lockstep with declining visitor levels. This would do our natural treasures a great favor.Originally Posted by Darin Boville
Given that my fantasy will not be fulfilled, the simple answer is "what Jack said," i.e. "no."
I can't deny that in 2010 when I was hiking the Grand Canyon, when I landed in ... Indian Gardens campground? Actually forget which is which, the one that is the halfway point down before you get to Phantom Ranch. Anyway the point is, I was very excited when I was able to catch some signal and "check in" using an app called foursquare. I was able to take a picture and upload it and let everyone know where I was at the time being that I was by myself, and an epic Kodachrome adventure where many people were following my check-in's.
On the other hand, the peacefulness of being away from all technology and "getting away" from everything and just being free to socialize and not have to worry about your pocket telling you how to behave every five minutes, it's very freeing and it's one of the last places in the world where you can go and be completely free of that communication.
It's very liberating and I would hate to see them completely lose this freedom by adding Wi-Fi everywhere.
Call me a Luddite but I really think there's value in disconnecting.
It actually offends me that anybody is even asking that question. To consider a project to hog up money and to needlessly destroy any part of one of our parks is so contrary to the mission of the parks service that it offends me as one of the funding citizens.
-Chris
Well here's a quote on NPS GC site,
'President Theodore Roosevelt said of Grand Canyon, "Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American should see."'
No WIFI. Also ban generators and all vehicles.
Stop the choppers and airplanes from strafing the area.
Use a monorail to move people in from Flagstaff to GC then sell them water and crackers.
Pick them up 3 days later. With all their garbage.
Tin Can
We don need no steekeen wi-fi!
Best so far: Randy: "Use a monorail to move people in from Flagstaff to GC then sell them water and crackers."
I experienced a similar level of excitement in the late 1980s when, while driving a rental car from Anchorage to Denali, the radio slowly but surely lost all signals, both AM and FM. Combined with the way NPS ran that park, it was the perfect National Park experience. Rather than adding wi-fi nonsense, other parks ought be transitioned to a Denali model.
Why not go all out and put towers on top of Half Dome etc and while at it put hundreds of the ever attractive wind farms strategically placed to kill off every natural vista. Anyone that needs WiFi in national parks needs something other than Wifi. Now where did I put that Luddite emoticon?
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