Lost without GPS

The paper map industry has suffered the same fate as the fabled buggy whip industry. Technology has moved on and we no longer have a glove compartment full of maps in our cars as a record of our travels. Hmmmm… I don’t think I’ve ever in my life time seen a pair of gloves in a car’s “glove compartment”, so how does that continue to be the common reference? (I may have AADD. I should never have found out that was a thing.)

I’ve noticed that in the past few years since the advent of GPS mapping, I can’t give directions to anyone anymore. Even places I’ve been to several times, I’m unsure of myself without plugging it into a mapping app. Now that most of them factor in traffic and accidents, I’m often “punished” by trying to head out on my own on a route I know. As I sit in stuck traffic, the alternate route it suggested mocks me.

While I did think GPS was making me stupid, I wouldn’t have thought it was affecting me physically as the Dr. Oz article to the right suggests. I don’t need any brain shrinkage!

I seriously can’t imagine people blindly following it off the road as suggested here. It’s not that accurate with the “Turn here” advice, though it is improving.. (It better get perfected quickly though if those self-driving cars are going to rely on it.)

We had two cars with GPS Navigation built-in. On the plus side, it’s a bigger screen, turns down the radio when it speaks and includes heads-up display. On the downside, it is generally less than 6 months before it’s outdated and the last I checked, the subscription update cost more than a Garmon. But why even buy a Garmon when Google Maps is constantly updated and comes as free app for your phone? The last car we bought, we skipped that option. A $15 phone holder took the place of the $1,000 GPS option.

We still have a few maps and sometimes I find it interesting to pull them out and see where I am on a larger scale. The zoom out feature on the mapping software just doesn’t give you the same effect. On the other hand, my wife would be fine if she never had to look at a paper road map again! She’s directionally challenged and if the map is right-side up in front of her, then we’re always going north…