After filtering through a lot of crap about some whiney people not
being quick enough to see the course maps for this weekend's Tour, I
just have to say something :
It has already been brought up that those who want to see something
off the Internet or get something printed off the Internet *can* do so,
if so inclined. I will give you a few examples, if you don't believe me.
example 1) I teach high school anatomy and physiology -- a very,
very difficult class at best, and I like it that way. One of the things
I've done is to put a website up
(http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/1889) where not only can my
students print out the class notes, but also look at slides, models and
dissection specimens online. Is this unfair to students who do not have
web access at home? Well, I've thought about this, and have come to this
conclusion -- when *every* student (and I do mean every single one of my
55 students in my two anatomy classes this past year) comes in with the
notes printed out, hole-punched and put into their notebooks, I don't
think it's an issue. The kids who don't have home access use the school
or public library, or go over to a friend's house. Some of them get
their parents to print the stuff out while they are at work. At worst,
they just photocopy a friend's printout, and so they *still* have it.
So, do I think the website makes it more likely that web-enabled
students will do better in class? Yes, because *all* of my students find
a way to become web-enabled in order to use that resource to its utmost.
example 2) Several clubs in this area have instituted an automated
preregistration online for their autocrosses. You'd think this was
inherently discriminating against the people who do not have web access,
denying them access to the autocrosses because they couldn't preregister
by phone or snail mail before all of the "slots" were taken by connected
preregistrants. Once again, the unconnected will find a way. Whether or
not I'm going to an event myself, I am often asked by unconnected
friends to enter their names when preregistration opens up. I do so
gladly -- it takes no time, really for me to do this favor. What's to
say that other unconnected people haven't been doing or wouldn't do the
same? I know plenty of people who only have access at work, if at all --
my brother is one of them. If he needs something from the web while he's
at home, he justs asks me to print it out (and of course I do it, since
I don't want him to beat me up <grin>).
Frankly, I don't care about whether or not course maps are
available before an event. It helps me to remember the general layout of
the course, but otherwise, they are about as useful as that little map
in the corner of the screen in GT2. They don't show dips, rises, holes,
gravelly/sandy spots, oily spots, etc. It's a two-dimensional version of
something that is three dimensional. And as a course designer myself, I
know that the final course layout often differs somewhat than the
original plan.
My point is that for those who think that the issue is that some
people could get the maps and some people couldn't, well, what makes you
think that some people didn't print them out and show them to their
unconnected, autocrossing friends? I seriously doubt that there would
have been anyone that couldn't get "access" if the maps had been left
up.
Karen Kraus
1996 Camaro Z28 1LE (FS34)
no, I didn't even look at the course maps, much less print them out --
heck, i didn't get off the wait list until wednesday!! ;)
--
"You never get away, you only get someplace else."
-- Lovka's Dilemma
"No matter what they're telling you, they're not telling you the whole
truth."
-- Todd's Principle
"The best view of your soul is from beyond the edge, looking back."
-- No Fear
http://www.erols.com/kiirenza/trisk
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