It could be a line in that Alanis Morrisette song about ironic things that aren’t actually ironic: the German Government is going to hire out about 500 GPS-enabled PDA-like gadgets for tourists who want to see the Berlin Wall but are disappointed that so little of it is left.
The devices, known as the “Mauerguide” (Wall guide), will be available to tourists from May 1 for between 6 and 15 Euros ($10-$25). The device will show pictures, video and audio at five major points along the Wall’s route, including the Bernauer Strasse, the Brandenburg Gate, the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery, with more locations to come in the future. It will relay information in both German and English at first, although more languages will be added.
Hopefully we’ll see other international governments incorporate gadget-based tours into their tourism plans – who knows, it might actually make some places interesting.
[Yahoo News and Net Tribune]