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I've got a love-hate with GPS services. Love using them when we're exploring a new place and feel less stress because if you make a wrong turn, the GPS will recalculate you back in the wrong direction, and the additional freedom that comes with the ability to explore an interesting country road and then be directed back to your hotel with a few pushes of a button.
But I rather hate them locally. I live effectively on the mainland side of the toll road to the beach. A few years back, they built a bypass road designed to take summer beach traffic out of my town and prevent the usual Saturday night (rental condo checkin day) back ups through main street. The old access road for the toll bridge was turned into a cul de sac with no way of getting to the bridge from there. The entire summer that year, the toll bridge authority had a big flashing temporary sign up that said:
"FOLLOW SIGNS TO MID BAY BRIDGE
YOUR GPS IS WRONG!!!"
And it was pretty impressive how many people ignored the signs and drove into the dead end street anyways.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
I would never go to NYC without Waze. If you're using a paper map, you end up in traffic jams. Waze routes you around the worst ones.
Flash forward to last summer and I grew to hate Waze because it would redirect people to a secondary on ramp to the toll bridge in a way that put thousands of cars with out of state plates in my normally sleepy neighborhood, and not only did the gridlock prevent some of my neighbors from being able to enter or leave their own homes from 3:00pm to 10:00pm ever Saturday, the traffic jam also prevented the local fire trucks from being able to leave the station on an adjacent road if they got a call.
By your logic, you should bring along a horse when crossing the country because that technology and power dependent device called an automobile is another Achilles heel that could fail and leave you stranded.
If you think transporting a horse is analogous to bringing a map and compass, no wonder you don't get it.
If you think transporting a horse is analogous to bringing a map and compass, no wonder you don't get it.
The point that you didn't get is that technology eventually reaches a point where it's so reliable that it's counterproductive to bother with a backup.
And why are people continuing to compare "GPS" and automated directions to paper maps? The counterpart to paper maps is electronic maps. GPS guidance is simply an optional feature of electronic maps that doesn't exist with paper maps.
Walmart: Rand-McNally Road Atlas; maps of all 50 states, Canada, and Mexico
State Tourism Bureaus: FREE maps of the state, usually with a welcome message from the Governor.
Garmin (or Tom-Tom) GPS: Great for finding garage sales in town. Not so much for long distance travel, in my experience.
DELORME Atlas & Gazetteer: One for each state. Detailed topographic maps. Shows back roads, recreation sites, boat ramps, and campgrounds.
Complete with GPS grids.
There you have every paper map you will ever need.
The point that you didn't get is that technology eventually reaches a point where it's so reliable that it's counterproductive to bother with a backup.
And why are people continuing to compare "GPS" and automated directions to paper maps? The counterpart to paper maps is electronic maps. GPS guidance is simply an optional feature of electronic maps that doesn't exist with paper maps.
That technology still requires batteries or other electric power merely to start the device. You can try to shout that fact down all you want, but there is no way around it.
I travel by that newfangled thing called automobiles (gasp) and by old ways such as foot, bicycle, and paddlecraft. All of those methods of transportation are still valid, even though there are more newfangled ways of getting around. And we who use more than one way to get around sometimes also use more than way of orienting and navigating. That doesn't make us "haters of technology." It means we don't worship only one way of doing things, to the point of denying the validity of other methods *just because they aren't the latest shiny thing.*
If you have any spare cells to employ reading comprehension, read all my posts in this thread. Nothing in them indictes hatred of GPS or electronic maps. Pointing out shortfalls does not equal hatred.
In fact, sometimes my husband and I will compare findings when hiking, him with a GPS and me with map and compass. So far, they have matched each other pretty well, since I know to adjust for declination. The compass is still preferable if we had to choose only one, for the aforementioned reason: It does not require batteries.
That technology still requires batteries or other electric power merely to start the device. You can try to shout that fact down all you want, but there is no way around it.
As does your automobile, so as long as your car is running you have the power for your "gps".
Walmart: Rand-McNally Road Atlas; maps of all 50 states, Canada, and Mexico
State Tourism Bureaus: FREE maps of the state, usually with a welcome message from the Governor.
Garmin (or Tom-Tom) GPS: Great for finding garage sales in town. Not so much for long distance travel, in my experience.
DELORME Atlas & Gazetteer: One for each state. Detailed topographic maps. Shows back roads, recreation sites, boat ramps, and campgrounds.
Complete with GPS grids.
There you have every paper map you will ever need.
Almost. The topo maps in automotive-marketed atlases are sometimes too small-scale (not detailed enough), depending what you are doing.
For a better source of maps, the USGS Map Store is much better, and they sell commercial maps and atlases as well as the traditional 7.5' and 15' topos.
Nice try at taking my post out of context. I specifically listed the ways I get around in addition to automotive. For your re-enlightenment, below is the entirety of my post:
-----------------------------
That technology still requires batteries or other electric power merely to start the device. You can try to shout that fact down all you want, but there is no way around it.
I travel by that newfangled thing called automobiles (gasp) and by old ways such as foot, bicycle, and paddlecraft. All of those methods of transportation are still valid, even though there are more newfangled ways of getting around. And we who use more than one way to get around sometimes also use more than way of orienting and navigating. That doesn't make us "haters of technology." It means we don't worship only one way of doing things, to the point of denying the validity of other methods *just because they aren't the latest shiny thing.*
If you have any spare cells to employ reading comprehension, read all my posts in this thread. Nothing in them indictes hatred of GPS or electronic maps. Pointing out shortfalls does not equal hatred.
In fact, sometimes my husband and I will compare findings when hiking, him with a GPS and me with map and compass. So far, they have matched each other pretty well, since I know to adjust for declination. The compass is still preferable if we had to choose only one, for the aforementioned reason: It does not require batteries.
--------------------------
You just can't accept the fact that not requiring batteries to read a map (or use a compass) makes them far from obsolete. You are arguing for the sake of arguing. I don't care that you prefer to stick your head in the sand. Just make sure it is only your own head that is stuck there.
Nice try at taking my post out of context. I specifically listed the ways I get around in addition to automotive. For your re-enlightenment, below is the entirety of my post:
Nope, you're just missing the point. You said that gps devices are dependent on battery power so paper maps are good backup. I pointed out that you depend on your car. And no, if you're driving to cross country or even across town to work, your paddleboat or bicycle is not an alternative. Not that you would even have it with you. If you drive Atlanta to NYC you are depending solely on your auto and if it breaks dwon in a desolate area you could be stranded. But that is so unlikely to hapen that you'll take your chances with that rather than tow a motorcycle as backup. And the point I was making is that a phone/gps is reliable enough that most people would rather take their chances than hunt down paper maps as backup.
Almost. The topo maps in automotive-marketed atlases are sometimes too small-scale (not detailed enough), depending what you are doing.
For a better source of maps, the USGS Map Store is much better, and they sell commercial maps and atlases as well as the traditional 7.5' and 15' topos.
Well, perhaps, for some specialized applications. The DELORME Atlas has about 70 pages of maps to cover Montana's 56 counties. For my purposes, that is detailed enough. The maps show all streams and lakes, most Forest Service roads, all major highways, most campgrounds and boat launches, etc.
Most people don't need the type of maps we had in the Army. We aren't calling in artillery or air strikes.
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