1 ICELANDERS SEEK TO KEEP REMOTE NORDIC PENINSULA DIGITAL-FREE
4 Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
5 from the no-cellphones-allowed dept.
7 o Reference: 0102641672
8 o News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/18/09/06/235254/icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-nordic-peninsula-digital-free
9 o Source link: https://www.apnews.com/71cdfb7b1c2245069a6f681f8b8f906f/Wired-Icelanders-seek-to-keep-remote-peninsula-digital-free
12 Hikers, park rangers, and summer residents of Iceland's
13 northernmost peninsula are seeking to keep the area free from
14 internet service, worrying that all that comes with it "will
15 destroy a way of life that depends on the absence of [email,
16 news, and social media]," reports the Associated Press. "The
17 area has long resisted cell towers, but commercial initiatives
18 could take the decision out of Icelanders' hands and push
19 Hornstrandir across the digital divide." From the report:
20 Despite or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on a
21 U.N. index comparing nations by information technology use,
22 with roughly 98 percent of the population using the internet.
23 Among adults, 93 percent report having Facebook accounts and
24 two-thirds are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR. Many
25 people who live in northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor
26 enthusiasts want Hornstrandir's 570 square kilometers (220
27 square miles), which accounts for 0.6 percent of Iceland's
28 land mass, to be declared a "digital-free zone." The idea
29 hasn't coalesced into a petition or formal campaign, so what
30 it would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out. The last
31 full-time resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 -- it
32 never was an easy place to farm -- but many descendants have
33 turned family farmsteads into summer getaways. Northwest
34 Iceland's representative, Halla Signy Kristjansdottir, is in
35 favor of adding cell towers for the safety of sailors and
36 travelers in the area. "I don't see anything romantic about
37 lying on the ground with a broken thigh bone and no cellphone
38 signal," Kristjansdottir said in an interview.
41 ** Yeah it's real annoying (Score:3, Insightful)
42 (by Crashmarik ( 635988 ))
45 You're out in the wilderness and somebody's WiFi is screwing up
46 the colors of the forest and making everything look strange,
47 while the cell towers are driving the wildlife nuts. / sarcasm
48 I'd love to hear these people justify how this in anyway
51 ** Because people no longer have self discipline? (Score:3)
52 (by thesupraman ( 179040 ))
55 Because they CAN get Farcebook, I guess they Must get
57 I mean, you would think they could just choose to turn off
58 their devices, not bring a charger, whatever.
59 Although knowing people from such areas, I suspect it is more
60 about giving one big finger to 'thems city folks' (even if
61 most of these people live in the cit\y most of the time).
62 Anyway, good on them for caring, but good luck in keeping
63 such things out. The safety point is also quite valid.
65 ** Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
66 (by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ))
69 > I mean, you would think they could just choose to turn off
71 They don't want to just stop using Facebook, they want
72 their NEIGHBORS to stop using it too.
73 This isn't about self-control. It is about controlling
74 others, which is a near universal human desire.
81 exactly. I just posted a more descriptive explanation of
82 that very thing a thread above this one. Sometimes it's
83 easier to buy a vacation that makes the choice for you,
84 than having to, repeatedly, make the same choice
85 throughout the entire vacation. Picking a destination that
86 has no access means you can re-focus on other forms of
87 entertainment. Its easy to fall back into habits. By
88 picking a spot with no access, you are not fighting
89 temptation, and i dare say withdrawal, the entire time.
94 ** Re:Yeah it's real annoying (Score:5, Informative)
98 Forest? *snicker*. Here's the joke everyone over the age of 8
100 Q: What do you do if you get lost in an Icelandic forest?
102 I've actually not been to Hornstrandir; it's been on my TODO
103 list for a long, long time, but I've lacked one of the
104 obligatory "round tuits". So it's actually surprising to hear
105 that there's not internet access (via cell towers) there,
106 because in general even the most remote places here have cell
107 access. When Bárðarbunga erupted, deep in the highlands, the
108 eruption was livestreamed. And there's a lot more people in
109 Vestfirðir then in the highlands!
110 This would of course be more about visitors than residents,
111 given that there's no permanent residents in Hornstrandir.
112 And in some ways I can sympathize. For example, there's
113 always a lot of opposition to improving the highland roads
114 because we don't want to have more cars driving through and
115 tons of people flooding in, and driving really fast on some
116 paved road would totally change the experience of going into
117 the highlands... it would just turn into a set of "sites to
118 see" rather than a journey. The effect of the isolation on
119 you can really be profound. You feel like a person exploring
120 Mars - so tiny in an endless empty expanse, completely devoid
121 of any signs of human civilization except the
122 half-bulldozed-out "road" you take, the endless travel
123 punctured by rushes of adrenaline as you try to ford a river
124 or trying to avoid ruining your car crossing a lava field.
125 And people who know that experience generally don't want to
126 see it altered. So I imagine it's the same thing for
127 Hornstrandir. The difference being, as previously mentioned,
128 in much of the highlands there's cell coverage. At least as
129 far as I know, when I go out I'm not checking Facebook all
130 the time. ;) But I don't recall any meaningful loss of
132 ED: Just checked [1]a map [wp.com] from my cell provider.
133 Looks like most of Hornstrandir is indeed marked in white (no
134 coverage), while most of the highlands is light blue (2G) or
135 in some places blue (3G) - even a good chunk of Vatnajökull
136 (largest glacier in Europe).
142 https://i2.wp.com/www.icelandnorthernlightshq.com/wp-content/-
143 uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-27-at-09.57.16.png?ssl=1
147 (by e3m4n ( 947977 ))
150 Actually this intrigues me. I go on cruises for the same
151 getaway. Sure one can declare a weekend of no devices or
152 technology, but theres always something that comes up that
153 eventually screws that up. I go on cruises with the family
154 and we do not buy the internet package. The fact that its
155 ridiculously expensive helps 'cut the cord' when on vacation.
156 The most online time the kids ever experience is when we pull
157 into a port and visit a place that has 'free wifi'; giving
158 them 30-60 min of checking their email
162 (by GumphMaster ( 772693 ))
165 > You're out in the wilderness and somebody's ...
166 bloody mobile phone is playing something loosely called
167 "music" over the shittiest, tinny piezoelectric "speaker" you
168 ever heard. I have personally experienced this scenario while
169 walking the Milford Track (NZ) and in Torres del Payne
170 (Chile). I can only imagine how much worse it would be _with_
171 coverage: Youtube videos turned up to 11, incessant need to
172 share the latest "news" from home, inattentive walking in
173 dangerous places etc. If your region's livelihood depends on
174 people coming to experience wil
177 ** Satellite Internet (Score:2)
181 We may only be a few years away from Starlink or something
182 similar providing practical high-bandwidth Internet service
183 globally. So they may hold back the tide a bit longer, but the
184 reality is that modern communications will become a fact of life
185 everywhere for anyone that wants it. Yes, that will mean some
186 significant changes to the lifestyles of the people living
187 there, and yes, it won't all be for the better, but I don't see
188 the point of fighting it now.
191 (by rossdee ( 243626 ))
194 How far north are we talking about? Satellite coverage is
195 always going to be a problem at the poles
197 ** Re:Satellite Internet (Score:4, Informative)
198 (by quenda ( 644621 ))
201 > Satellite coverage is always going to be a problem at the
203 No, that applies to geosynchronous broadcast satellites,
204 but not to LEO constellations such as Starlink or
212 Good point. A quick look at Google Maps suggests around 66
213 degrees north. I'm not the best a geography, and I had
214 thought Iceland was a bit further south. I didn't realize
215 it was north of the southern tip of Greenland. That could
216 well be outside the range of satellite Internet, depending
217 on the orbits involved. I have no idea what the plans are.
220 (by Mashiki ( 184564 ))
223 Seem to remember there was active satellite links in
224 Resolute, Nvt.(74deg/N), so I don't think that's a
225 problem. The real problem was the astronomical cost of
226 those links, short of a stationary polar orbit
227 satellite there is no real way to keep it cheap. So
228 they've been building fiber as a replacement since
229 2012ish for the far north remote communities at least
230 here in Canada. I think Resolute was finished in
236 ** Fuck yes. (Score:3)
237 (by DogDude ( 805747 ))
240 Fuck yes, I fucking love Icelanders. I'm so sick of seeing
241 smartphone zombies everywhere. The addicts and the stupid will
242 be addicted and stupid anywhere there's an Internet connection.
243 What a wonderful, thoughtful, human decision to make. Wonderful
247 (by Gojira Shipi-Taro ( 465802 ))
250 I don't see it as thoughtful or "human" at all. Simply
252 As long as EVERYONE in that area agrees, fine.
255 ** safety, use a friggin' PLB (Score:1)
256 (by Anonymous Coward)
259 I spend a lot of time in the woods of British Columbia, Canada.
260 There is no celphone coverage in probably 95% of our
261 woods/wilderness. I don't ask for cel towers, I carry a Personal
262 Locator Beacon (PLB) for safety. If it is that important to
263 someone to be connected, let them use satellite. We don't need
264 more cel coverage for narcisists.
git://git.nikiroo.be / gofetch.git / blob