Ontario, Canada Photos - Spring 2009 Emerging - Haliburton Highlands, Southern, Central Ontario - Maple Lake Ontario

Ontario, Canada Photos – Spring 2009 Emerging – Haliburton Highlands, Southern, Central Ontario

Ξ March 19th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ business, Canada, cottage country, Haliburton Highlands, Internet, marine/marina, Ontario, opinion, personal, Photography, Travel/Vacation, webcam, winter |

Lake Muscoka, Gravenhurst, Ontario - March 19, 2009

Yesterday, whilst we were taking our dog Raven for her nightly walk, my husband remarked that “the snow is melting off the docks on Lake Muscoka.” He’d been looking at the webcam shot available on the Internet as he made the assessment. Since “the melt,” as I’m calling it seems to be underway (I’m never certain that there is not going to be another freeze of any duration–is anyone?) I thought it best to see what I could pull up on the Ontario webcams.
As much as I hate sounding curmudgeonly there remains only a couple of public webcams in the entire province of Ontario that give access to a nice scene. Otherwise webcams , especially those that are sponsored by business’s like oh say, the Toronto webcam by CBC television are absolutely unremarkable. The shot CBC shows could be of “any city” and it’s any city of not great beauty. Conversely, a second shot of Toronto Island sponsored by The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto, though a long shot, is in focus and gives a wonderful view of the magnificent vista.

torontoisland 400x170 Ontario, Canada Photos Spring 2009 Emerging Haliburton Highlands, Southern, Central Ontario

Toronto Island - March 19, 2009

It still flabbergasts me that a province like Ontario that depends so on income from tourism does not take advantage of the ever-burgeoning use of the Internet and strategically install tourism-inducing webcams in some of Ontario’s most gorgeous areas. I’m sure if the province put a bit of money into this and found some competent people to periodically make sure that the camera was pointed in the right direction, in focus, not obscured by dirt, debris, etc. that the pay-off over time would more than outweigh the initial cost of installing the cameras and the recurring cost of bandwidth that allows the showcasing of the picture pretty Ontario webcam shots.

If I sound discouraged, I am, mostly because it’s such a wasted opportunity for the province and frankly, that sharp minds in Ontario haven’t already thought to do this when so many residents have been industrious enough to do so, despite the fact that they are almost always selling something. I don’t mind adverts but in the case of Haliburton’s webcam shot “sponsored by Halcom Communications,” one must go to their site, which many of us are reluctant to do as doing so as a practice makes one vulnerable to cookies attached to one’s browser. I’ve actually written to Halcom asking it they could adjust/clean the lens of their webcam–got no reply. So they get free advertising and they give us next to nothing in return.