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May 23, 2011

Bad Map: Visualizing WiFi Access

The map below appeared in a Delta Airlines in-flight magazine in April 2011 and serves as a good example of the ongoing rhetoric of ubiquity and uniformity of information availability and access.

This one category choropleth map (which for some reason bleeds outside the borders of the U.S.) claims to show the "seamless coverage of in flight Internet service". Interesting, this claim is immediately countered by the footnote which clarifies that "Coverage area is an approximation. True coverage may vary."

Truly, a very useful and informative map of the information age.

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1 comment:

  1. Kevin Buchs8 June 2011 at 10:04

    Inflight WiFi Internet is done via satelite. It "bleeds" outside the borders of the US because those areas have satelite coverage and are on jet routes. Whether satelite or wifi transceiver, the range of reception is always approximate. Radio transmission depends upon weather conditions. In addition, individual transceivers on the jets and satelites may vary in performance. So, they are indicating that the boundaries are fuzzy.

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