Newly announced Google Maps features hint at a more doom-conscious future for tech advancements
If this last year felt a little more apocalypse-y than others past, it’s not without good reason. And as with every industry, tech is starting to take notice. As such, many of the new Google Maps features announced this week preview a tone shift within the industry. As technology plateaus, rather than shallow convenience, the focus appears to be transitioning to quality-of-life improvements, and hopefully, sustainability. One element of our day-to-day lives that has undergone a begrudging transformation is grocery shopping. Once a universally beloved pastime (sarcasm), picking up the necessities in-person has been made even less convenient, and in some areas entirely inadvisable. For this reason, many of us have grown accustomed to picking up online orders, or scheduling them to be delivered, and Google Maps hopes to further alleviate the new challenges this presents in a couple ways. For one, you will soon receive much more thorough and specific information including delivery providers, pickup and delivery windows, order minimums, and fees all within the app. Further, starting with select Kroger-owned Fred Meyer locations in Portland, Oregon, Maps will notify you when it’s time to leave for your pick-up, and give the signal to the providing store that you’ll be arriving shortly.
