Publisher's Ponderings: Unintended Consequences

In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action.
—Wikipedia

Wikipedia goes on to define three types of unintended consequences:
Unexpected benefit: A positive unexpected benefit (also referred to as luck, serendipity or a windfall).
Unexpected drawback: An unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy (e.g., while irrigation schemes provide people with water for agriculture, they can increase waterborne diseases that have devastating health effects).
Perverse result: A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse). This is sometimes referred to as 'backfire.'
An unexpected drawback has been shown in Australia after the release of rabbits for the purpose of hunting. The rabbit population is now responsible for serious gully erosion that did not exist prior to the rabbits’ release.
Here in the United States, a perverse result occurred with the introduction of Asian carp from Southeast Asia in the 1960s. The carp were intended to help keep wastewater retention ponds clean. However, subsequent flooding allowed the carp to escape into the Mississippi river system. Asian carp are voracious and outcompete native fish for food and habitat. As a result, the Army Corps of Engineers and bordering states all the way to Lake Michigan have spent millions of dollars trying, and failing, to stop the carp’s takeover of this great river system.
Holly (especially) and I (meh) were early adopters of GPS navigation. We use an app called MapQuest. We call it “The Lady”—as in, “Fire up the lady. She will get us there.”
It wasn’t until our latest trip to Santa Fe that I realized what I have always disliked about navigation apps and starting thinking of the unintended consequences of using one.
We left Santa Fe on Saturday afternoon to attend my sister’s wedding in Albuquerque. As far as directions, all we had to go by was the address of the wedding venue. This is the perfect application of a navigation app—just type in the address and follow the lady’s instructions. After the wedding, a funny thing happened on the way to Santa Fe... I realized I knew nothing about Albuquerque. It wouldn’t even be fair to say I had been there.
Here’s the thing. When that app is barking instructions, [in a quarter mile, turn right on La Comunidad NW; in 600 feet, turn right on La Comunidad NW; in 200 feet, turn right
on La Comunidad NW; continue on La Comunidad NW for 2.6 miles... ] it becomes an exercise in blindly following instructions. I don’t know about everyone else, but in this circumstance, I have nothing left for looking around and appreciating my surroundings. What’s more, the app usually takes you on the most obscure routes in an effort to save time.
In the old days, when we used maps, we would, first of all, spread out the map for an overall awareness of the whole city—like, for starters, where we are now and where’s our destination. We would then pick a route and identify major landmarks to navigate by. We would know that we were going to cross the Rio Grande long before getting there. We would be on the lookout for key milestones such as lakes, parks, stadiums, and maybe even the capitol building! Then, with all this knowledge, we might pick a different route on the way back and see more of the city.
Just call me an old fart. I prefer to think of myself as having the wisdom to see that even the greatest, newest thing can have negative unintended consequences.