Taking advantage of technology is great as long as there is a genuine benefit and you don't grow critically dependent on it. IMO that's all that needs to be said there and it's really self-explanatory.

What Tyber just pointed out is equally true but on a somewhat different level. These days, a lot of people don't seem to be ready to take any kind of responsibility for what they do. It's also fair to say that many trust technology way too much, hoping some gadget they bought will reliably keep them out of harms way.

Every individual has a different set of skills and abilities that determines just how far they can push themselves and still stay reasonably safe. Just like a responsible individual would not wander around a crime-infested neighborhood late at night so it goes without saying that a good many city dwellers have no business going into the wilderness alone.

Of course, everybody loves adventure so people often bite off more than they can chew. But that's not what SAR really is about. It's there to save people who went out and despite good preparation ran into serious trouble. The problem is, today SAR is often abused by folks who hit the great outdoors totally unprepared in every sense of the word and expect to be rescued by the push of a button the moment they do anything dumb. Technology is partly to blame as well, especially with devices like SPOT that are basically marketed as a method for quick, easy pushbutton rescue.