After working for millennia to map the world, we have at last solved the problem of location. Smartphones, wi-fi routers and other transmitters can pinpoint our exact positions at any time--but they can also share that information with advertisers, corporations and government agencies.
Beginning with the age of exploration and mapmaking, veteran tech reporter Hiawatha Bray charts the history of location technology through two world wars, the growth of the U.S. space program and the rapid evolution of now-ubiquitous portable GPS devices. After examining the military origins and civilian uses of radar, satellites and other tracking systems, You Are Here focuses on the recent swift growth of location tracking software, wireless signals, GPS and the instantaneous, detailed mapping they make possible. Bray also delves into a raft of privacy issues, asking whether companies and governments ought to use software to track users' activities, preferences and locations. While many users are happy to trade a bit of privacy for a bit of convenience--say, entering their location into a smartphone to obtain driving directions--Bray questions how far surveillance can go before it becomes invasive.
Timely and thought-provoking, You Are Here provides an entertaining overview of location technology and a set of important questions to ask as we keep mapping the world and our place in it. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams