GPS/HELL NO

[olkofri]

My wife directs my driving. "Watch out..look where you are going "

My mum once tried the same thing when I was starting to drive. So, I firmly told her, "mum, you either shut up or walk home": she shut up. Didn't try to control my driving ever again.

You have to use Google maps.

Ever heard of the ones driving into a river following Google maps? The bridge was out. The app doesn't update daily, you know? I've learnt this the hard way, and ended up wasting time trying to find an alternate route in a strange city all because Poogle maps didn't account for construction taking place.
Oh, and Google's projection is wrong too. Might not be too much of an issue in the tropics, but as you keep going north...

 

[saltedplug]

I had heard of Darwin Awards but am thankful that I have been led to their online repository. Thank you, sir!

 

[jpmcwjr]

I love maps and charts, but find a bit of common sense with car's built in nav. and Apple maps keeps me going in the right direction. The iPhone's transit section is also very useful. Showing current traffic jams is also good but not great.

 

[aquadoc]

I use differential GPS as a tool in my job. It is no loss whatsoever to choose not to use it when I leave work. Not using paper maps, now that is a loss on your part. It is always fun to watch those without map reading skills try to find their way when their phone is dead.

 

[mau1]

At the risk of having my head handed to me by a certain sub-group of forum members...you notice that it was a woman who was cited for driving on the railroad tracks...eh?

 

[instymp]

GPS built in, google et all are great.

But if you take a trip. guarantee they will mess up at least once.

Saw the arches in St. Louis 5 times the last time we drove though before Rand Mcnally saved us.

Always have a Rand road atlas with us.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

GPS isn't perfect. Maps sure aren't when you consider all the construction and how often they're updated. If you have a detached Garmin GPS unit, you need to regularly update it. I guess same is true if you have one built into your vehicle.
What really helps is to combine some common sense with GPS utilization. I have traveled extensively in my life and relied on maps for years. I can assure you, there's no danger of me trashing my GPS unit and going back to maps. Not even close. Not even remotely close. But if you like maps, have a happy.

 

[instymp]

Hoosier, I agree! But...

I still have a compass. 8)

 

[Chasing Embers]

I like going the wrong way just to see what the GPS comes up with.

 

[instymp]

I do too, just have to mute her

 

[ssjones]

I haven't used a true GPS for years - those maps are generally outdated from day 2. Folks rarely update their GPS maps (or the maps in their in-car NAV systems). I did put over 750,000 logged miles on my last Garmin (and sold it to a guy who loves it!)
I switched to WAYZ a few years ago and its been my mainstay (only time I don't use it is when we drive to New Orleans, WAYZ currently won't do that long of a trip). Those maps are continually updated. I recently saw a Lincoln tv commercial and they are now installing WAYZ as their NAV's
But, last week, I78 in PA was locked down and pulled out an old map to figure a route around the accident, it pays to be prepared!
If you have your GPS turned on your phone (as required by all mapping) you are definitely being tracked. We've been inundated lately with companies that want to sell us the habits of fast food customers. Their analytics can show us all the other places our guests choose to eat. Scary stuff!

 

[drwatson]

I still use and love a map as you can see the big picture. But I do think Gps is safer, can just drive and listen to turns..No more map across steering wheel while driving.

 

[artificialme]

No technology is perfect though. It just mere tools to aid us when we don't know how to get to specific places. Help me a lot, but I don't relying on it too much. Sometimes, it's better to ask people in vicinity just to make connection with new people

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sometimes, it's better to ask people in vicinity just to make connection with new people

What if it's a village of cannibals?

 

[ashdigger]

Duane, I can't drive to the Sentinel Islands.

 

[weezell]

We cannot allow this idiocy to take root and grow.

Way to late for that...

 

[Chasing Embers]

Duane, I can't drive to the Sentinel Islands.

Way to late for that...

:rofl:
I need sleep

 

[jaytex1969]

I learned to use maps extensively in the military. Good to see the big picture and to back up the gizmos.
Now, however, I deliver 50-90 boxes a day to residential addresses routed by my company's phone app to Google maps.
Drop and run, like an amped out rat in a maze. I rarely know where I am exactly and just follow the digital directives.
There's no way I could plot and execute the number of destinations I do daily on a paper map. My production would be cut in half, at least.

 

[zack24]

Google Maps is fabulous. The apps on car nav systems I never use.
I remember the Dark Ages when the first Garmin GPS systems were $600. I had to reroute across Alligator Alley in South Florida (I 75) due to a huge fire. I kept getting directed to smaller and smaller roads and finally a dirt road on a levee. There was a big Lincoln parked on the levee- I pulled up beside him and he rolled down the window. "Garmin GPS?"..."Yep"....We finally sorted it out and got back to a main road together....

 

[winton]

A few years ago, my wife was driving through a long construction zone. They had put up a temporary road, while working on the main road. For miles, the GPS was begging my wife to return to the road.