Tapping Back Into The Dead Past

Hmmmm, what is it about this display that makes the food appear to be so unappetizing?

(C) 2016 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - 12/28/16

This evening I returned to the PlattInfo kiosk on City Hall Place to see how well its touchscreen worked.  From what I've heard this long dead kiosk sprang back to life around a month ago.

Three information kiosks were installed back in 2013 but have spent most of their time dead, black screens.  Their purpose was to promote the city and its businesses, providing a convenient on-screen guide.

The one at the city parking lot remains dead and I'm assuming the one on Dock Street is in the same condition. (Too cold for me to walk down there and check it out.)

So how well does this revived one work?  The screen was still dirty (see previous article here) but since I was wearing gloves I decided to try a few taps.  The screen lead me to listings of various businesses but the information was outdated.  (Also the images bled off the screen, parts of the ads were missing.)  For example there was the ad for the General Trading Company, a store that closed in August 2015.  Another ghost that popped up was the Adirondack Soup Company, a restaurant defunct since 2013.

It's ironical that these companies paid for this advertising and now it's being shown long after they closed their doors.

Even if the kiosks can be restored with updated info what's the point?   The PlattInfo units are obsolete.  The same information can be found online through portable devices, cellphones and tablets.

Tax money well spent.  But the "savings" doesn't end there.  How much will it cost to remove the units and fix the spots where they stood?

Item: City residents are upset over the possibility that the tax rate might take a double digit jump.

Gee, could wasteful spending be part of the problem?