MiniCamp 3: Let Down by Technology

I’d like to be telling you all about how great MiniCamp is right now but unfortunately I can’t - why? Ironically on the way to an Technology meet-up I was let down by Technology.

The Location had been provided with no directions so I assumed it would be easy to find. First of all I grabbed the postcode and looked up the best transport route on journeyplanner. It appeared to be a simple 1-2 bus trip taking 30mins. Looking at the end map I saw it was in an area I was familiar with. I went to Google maps to get a more detailed view of the area. I didn’t bother to print this out as I thought I knew the area and I had my trusty PocketPC with me. How wrong could I be!?

After arriving at Old Street I walked down Great Eastern Street until I got to commercial road - then the madness began. Calling up my browser on my pocket PC I tried to get up a map. Unfortunately I’d uninstalled Opera for extra memory and was left with feeble pocketIE. Unable to handle anything javascripty I knew Google and Yahoo! Maps were out. However, I know Multimap.com works on handheld devices so called up my location. This is where things went wrong.

I don’t know if it was the inaccurate and sparse signage on the roads, the terrible map provided by multimap, the conflicting information from passersby or my own ineptitude but I ended up wandering for 40mins before giving up and going home.

I think it was a cobination of factors at one point there were 3 roads called Elder Street, none of which appeared on the multimap! People that worked in the area had never heard of the place I was trying to find but looking at the multimap were able to point me in the direction of the circled location. Problem was everyone I spoke to pointed in a different direction. The roads were so sparsely labelled you could walk for 5-10mins in the wrong direction before finding a sign.

This experience has taught me some key lessons.
1) Don’t go to an event with an obscure location without GPS as the new O2 orbit has built in
2) Don’t ever use Multimap
3) The big fuss about the next generation mobile web should not be ignored. There needs to be more sites catering for handheld devices especialy since content you are likely to need on the move.
4) Asking a stranger for directions is like getting feedback on a business news website from young school children - completely random and likely useless.

Technorati Tags: minibar, multimap, gps, PocketPC, PocketIE, xda, orbit, lost