A week ago, a child in Washington was working on a map. Doodling, that is. The mildly offended child grabbed a sharpie and bent over the map of North America. Isn’t it deeply gratifying when children take an interest in geography and history? Children are, famously, curious, and should stay that way. This slightly pudgy child’s eye caught on something blue on the map. What’s this, then? LLLLLAAAAKE OOOONTAAARIOOOO. Lake Ontario. The fingers holding the felty pen suddenly developed their radical side and crossed out the name Lake Ontario. Why? Ah, the lake is split in two. Right through the middle of the water runs an invisible but real border between Canada and the United Lakes Of America.
Then the child decided the name should now be overwritten with the dominant half of the lake’s ownership. So it wrote, above the crossed-out bit, right in the middle of the water: «LAKE AMERICA». What a clever little fellow. Simply rewrites geography and didn’t make a single spelling mistake.
The leaders caught wind of this too. The leadership of Google Maps, that is. That’s the map department of a search engine that had replaced the term “search the internet” with “just Google it.” Well, overnight, this one boy’s scribble became a visible fact. American citizens with usage rights to the Google machinery now see, right in the middle of the lake on their electronic maps, the label «Lake America». The crossed-out, four-hundred-year-old designation «Lake Ontario» has vanished. Or rather, sunk.
Google has written playfulness right into its business plan. Which, translated, means employees are often found in play corners and relaxation zones, playfully whiling away the time. This apparently fosters creativity and thinking. Very well considered, Google. Now, this playful work technique also ensures a flexible climate and a pleasant work environment. So I’d think, anyway. This flexibility has become even more pronounced, since Google and its management are practising an active bow before a child.
Somewhere on the Canadian half of the lake there is apparently also a leak — because the matter has reached us. For we Canadians have not failed to notice this flexibility of Google’s with their maps. We seen that. And the Canadian soul, or mentality, reacts. No, not with rage or a hockey stick. Canadians reach for something more subtle: a dead app. The ancient map application MapQuest has just risen from the crypt.
Canadians have picked up the electronic felt pen, crossed out the name «Google Maps», and activated «MapQuest» instead. When my neighbour types «Lake Ontario» into MapQuest, it says Lake Ontario there too, not Lake America.
Never change a winning team?
Think again!
