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You miss the point entirely. If you simply listen to the instructions on a GPS, you don't absorb anything around you. I guarantee that you will learn a city MUCH MUCH quicker finding your way around on your own than using a GPS. Yes, it does dumb you down, because you aren't using your mind at all. Much as calculators have dumbed us down in doing math.
Your mind should be on driving not searching maps printed or electronic.
The point of turn by turn is to minimize the distraction of the driver.
The mapping function of a modern nav system is vastly superior to a printed map. The ability to zoom alone makes that true. You have the equivalent of a half dozen maps present simultaneously.
You miss the point entirely. If you simply listen to the instructions on a GPS, you don't absorb anything around you. I guarantee that you will learn a city MUCH MUCH quicker finding your way around on your own than using a GPS. Yes, it does dumb you down, because you aren't using your mind at all. Much as calculators have dumbed us down in doing math.
There are times when you don't need to learn the area of a city. If I'm driving cross country and staying at multiple hotels and checking out multiple points of interest I just want to know how to get to my hotels across multiple cities I am staying at. I don't need to know the whole street patten of the city. I'll never return to that area, simply just sleeping over. And in the off chance I want to dine out before heading to the hotel a GPS will be handier in helping me find a restaurant and easily guide me there. Again, knowing the city layout in this situation is not necessary, I just want to get from point a to point b.
And like others have stated, you don't need to use the turn by turn guidance, you can simply use it for real time map guide showing you the surrounding streets. You will know what streets are coming up. That in itself is better then any paper map. I only use paper maps for the big picture when I travel cross country.
WOW! You mean to tell me that you can't find out who the King of England in 1109 was or who won the original Stanley Cup without an iPhone????? That's really sad.
Not while sitting at a coffee bar with friends discussing the topic.
You miss the point entirely. If you simply listen to the instructions on a GPS, you don't absorb anything around you. I guarantee that you will learn a city MUCH MUCH quicker finding your way around on your own than using a GPS. Yes, it does dumb you down, because you aren't using your mind at all. Much as calculators have dumbed us down in doing math.
You missed my point entirely. I don't need to absorb anything. I just want to find a gas station or an IHOP on my trip. I don't need to learn a city I am passing through. I know my way around my own town. That's not what I use GPS for. I use it on the road and in areas I'm not familiar with that I only need to find once.
I grew up loving maps and the Thomas Guide (when I moved to LA). In general, I like to know how I'm getting from point A to point B before I leave, but my use of various GPS technologies varies depending on the sort of trip I'm taking.
If it's a long-haul trip, chances are I already know how to get to the Interstate and I pre-plan (Google Maps) the bulk of the route before I leave, and not turn on turn-by-turn instructions until I get pretty close to my destination. I do NOT need or like voice or screen commands basically telling me to "go straight" for 100 miles, when all I need is help for the last 5 miles or so. On these sorts of long-ish trips I also plot out general areas for food and gas and ATMs, using Google and Yelp etc.
For shorter trips in areas that I know pretty well, but where I've never been to the exact address, I'm iffy about turn-by-turns. Too many times those directions send me very illogical ways because of the slavish adherence to whatever algorithm is programmed. For those trips I'll get myself to the nearest major cross-street and then see if I still need any assistance (usually not).
I tried Waze and gave it up. FOr me, in Los Angeles, it's worthless so often. It will often suggest left turns that make ZERO sense in the real world but probably satisfy some algorithm which says it will save 11 seconds off my trip.
In most cases, just having the map on the display in my car provides most of the help I need.
Hate to shatter your illusions but google maps can be downloaded to the phone just like yours. And they generally work reasonably well without GPS. Certainly the map is full available even if the positon is not. But they can often position off internals and GPS with no cellphone and off cell phone towers with no GPS. The only place I can imagine no GPS would be in dense forest or tunnels. Might get a little screwy in major cities but should still work.
What illusions are you referring to? Downloading Google maps has to be done in advance. If you're somewhere with no signal it is too late to download them. Yes, it works better than in thee past, but that doesn't matter. I still want the Rand McNally maps anyways. Mostly because I'm a map geek. Having it as a backup is really secondary to me. I haven't needed it yet, but I have them if I do.
You can also download "here" on your smartphone for offline use. This works nearly as good as google but without the use of data.
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