Art Preservation with GPS
GPS TrackingPublished January 24, 2009 at 5:00 am No CommentsBy Chris O’Toole
You already know that GPS can protect just about anything from your safety to your country. But what about the purest form of beauty and intellectual stimulation? What about that which captures the physical beauty of our world in an era where beauty is harder and harder to find? Well, don’t worry because GPS is like Batman, its jurisdiction has no borders.
Recently, “Alan” nearly lost something that cannot be replaced. Money, cars, and houses are tough to lose but are ultimately homogenous, insurable, and replaceable. A work of art lost is lost forever. “Alan” was not just a private collector. He was the proprietor of a renowned art museum that enlightened thousands of people every day. This robbery would have sucked divine inspiration from the face of the earth.
The robbers acquired the masterpiece by stealing it right off of the train that was transporting it. When the antiquated coal monster came to a halt, the handlers discovered that their package was not on the train. Paranoia ensued. Calls were made and authorities were alerted. Fortunately, the package was discovered in the dirt a few miles from the train station. It was opened and confirmed as the painting. Somehow they had gotten lucky.
Now, this could have been the end of the story without a GPS tracker. The result? The robbers walking away with the real painting with no one to discover the replica until the trail was completely cold. However, the collector immediately noticed a discrepancy between the tracker and the painting. Somehow, the tracker wasn’t in his living room. It was hundreds of miles away. The collector keenly appraised the painting and discovered the fraudulence.
Today, the real painting hangs brilliantly in the display of Alan’s museum and percolates the creativity, awe, and inspiration of thousands. The crude replica would have surely earned the disdain and disgust of Alan’s museum-goers as it was barely satisfactory enough for authorities to be duped. Fortunately, it never came to that with the clever implementation of a GPS tracker.
