You may be spending the day hiking in a Scottish National Park, but that now doesn’t mean you can’t check your email. Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park has installed a broadband network of information kiosks and wireless hotspots to provide free web access for visitors, so they can check weather, tourist information and send email. As park information centres are closed during the evenings and all winter, the kiosks will provide visitors with event and activity details at anytime. It’s unknown how useful the kiosks will be for safety, as there are only 18 installed in the 1,865 sq km park.
Though several of the kiosks are located at shops near entranceways, the rest are situated through the park. Designed to avoid impact on the surrounding landscape, the effect their presence has on people trying to escape technology remains to be seen. If this pilot scheme succeeds, expect to see touch-screen web access in National Parks across Scotland, England and Wales.