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Online maps may have killed James Kim - do you have a story to tell?

by Actual News Geezer | December 8, 2006 at 02:07 pm | 784 views | add comment

He swam among tech toys and complex new processes. As a technology journalist he had access to all the bells and whistles available. So here's a disturbing question that is being raised about the death of James Kim: did an online map he downloaded lead to his death?

We'd like to hear about your brushes with technology that turned into a trap. What's your story?

Questionable directions given by online mapping services could have contributed to the death of James Kim, who perished while trying to save his stranded family.

Kim, 35, was driving home from a vacation with his wife, Kati, and daughters, four-year-old Penelope and seven-month-old Sabine, on November 25 when he took a wrong turn and they became lost in the wilderness in Oregon, in north-west US.

Kim left his family on Saturday to find help, but never returned. When searchers found his lifeless body yesterday, he had already walked 13 kilometres through rugged terrain, wearing only light clothing.

But Kim - undoubtedly tech-savvy given that he worked as a technology reporter for the online publisher CNET - may never have made that fateful wrong turn if he hadn't used the internet to look up directions for his journey, US media reports suggest.