Sat Navs

[jazzy_dave]

There was an article about Sat Navs on the radio this morning and how people have lost the ability to orientate themselves, and that the technology is now in every smart phone. Well, firstly, i do not drive although i use to, and don't own a car. Secondly, i have always had a very good sense of direction, know how to use a map, and really cannot see why you need one unless you are in terrain short of markers, like the  dessert.

It is just another piece of technology  that  deadens the brain from thinking for itself.
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Comments

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

We use our Sat Nav only to navigate large cities, and the car contains a large selection of maps because experience has taught us to navigate or die, with or without a SatNav.

This was discussed on an LJ community recently and the comments were basically, "Just you wait until you find yourself lost somewhere without a signal," and "Just wait until you bump right up against a road closure that's only just happened," and "Just wait until the post code/zip code is not on the satnav."

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

Well, funnily enough I have never had a GPS (that's what we call them here) but there have been times recently when I could have done with one! I still read a map, but if I don't have a passenger, I have to pull off the road every so often. My memory can only hold a certain number of right and left turns and street names!

As for a sense of direction, I have none! I once only knew I was going the wrong way up a street when the numbers got bigger instead of smaller! That being said, I did not know whether to turn left or right when I got to that road. I can tell what direction I am going by the angle of the sun and the time of day.

Often the maps are upside down from my perspective, too.

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

I broke down and got a GPS before one of my Florida trips. :p
I still go to AAA and get a triptik(maping) of my trips.

Even more disturbing than GPS systems are these ares that park for you, or look behind or beside your car for you. People are just getting lazy. :o
Hugs, Jon

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

There was an article in (I think) the Telegraph last week which reported that SatNavs have streamlined van deliveries so much, that the annual saving on fuel costs is in the billions. That's also good for the environment of course. So they do serve a purpose.

Oh, but they're a curse as well! People follow them blindly. There's a very narrow, winding lane near me, which leads up quite a steep hill. For some reason, SatNavs are always directing lorry drivers up there! Despite road signs saying that it's too narrow, and that heavy vehicles aren't allowed, up there they go, because the little voice on the dashboard tells them to. And then they get stuck. So, whilst they do clearly have their benefits, they're only any good if you use your own brain as well.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

This is my point exactly. People who do use them tend to do blindly without using any common sense. I am not totally against them, as they are a useful tool, and as a tool they can be very useful, but like anything else, do not be a slave to them.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Sat nav can be a good emergency back up. Sometimes you just can't find the right street because it isn't marked well or something like that.
But, for the most part I try and see where I should go first on a map and then follow signs as needed.

[howlin-wolf-66.livejournal.com]

Well, it does get you there QUICKER than if you had to think for yourself - but you still need the brainpower to be able to spot when it's in error...

[ba1126.livejournal.com]

I don't have one, but sometimes wish I did! As a nanny, I was sent with the two kids to a museum on the other side of Boston, a city of twists and turns and dead end streets and "one ways". We got to the Museum with the directions she gave, but it was impossible to take the same roads back because of "one ways". A trip that should have been 20 minutes took us over two hours, and I had two hot, tired, hungry kids in the back seat that made it even worse!! It was only luck that I entered an intersection I recognized and was able to finally know the way back!

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

THIS. Can't get the damned thing out of my frigging phone - and I DON'T NEED IT. OMG...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

My daughter suggested that I download a satnav app before we went up to the Highlands and Skye.

I'm really pleased that I didn't, as my phone lost signal just outside Fort William, and seems to have been so traumatised by this that it still hasn't picked it up even though I am now in the middle of Glasgow.

Fortunately, said daughter was also the person who brought the paper map....

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

I always use a map in unfamiliar territory.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll argue the other side. I've had a GPS for years and have a lousy sense of direction, and I'll be honest, I wouldn't want to be without one. I live about 40 miles outside NYC and drive in the City pretty often. Most of Manhattan's a grid and pretty easy to negotiate, but not entirely, and the other four boroughs are a nightmare if you don't know where you're going or get detoured unexpectedly. I used to print out directions when I was going somewhere new, because I can't be looking at a map as I drive, but honestly, I think it's safer to have a GPS than to try to read and drive at the same time. And as a single woman who's often driving alone at night - and not always through the best/safest places - I feel a lot safer knowing I can always plot a way home quickly.

That said, I still look up most routes in MapQuest first, just to have a general sense of the entire trip, and my car is full of maps, so I'm covered if Pilot (yes, I named her after the character from Farscape) goes on the fritz.

[oakmouse]

I hate those things. I've had a number of friends who swear by them, consequently have been a passenger in cars that were sent the wrong way down one way streets, sent to entirely the wrong town, told to take the wrong freeway exit, etc. Give me a paper map, and if I need electronic supplementation then I'll have ten minutes on Google Maps Street View, please, where I can get a look at the terrain and find out necessary details.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

That is exactly what i do to get the lay of the land before visiting. Google Maps is so useful for that.

[anita-margarita.livejournal.com]

*Smiles grimly*

One night in San Francisco, we found ourselves walking into a crappy area of town along with a small group of young college students. They all had the latest gadgets and were convinced we were all going in the right direction. I hadn't lived in SF for many years and so had forgotten the layout, but I had the feeling this was not going to work out. As it turned out, none of them knew how to use GPS.

I finally asked a woman passing by for directions. The students went on without us. She told us to go a different route to avoid a dodgy area... which GPS does not list.

I hope nothing bad happened to those kids.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I so agree: a navigation device makes you completely dependent on a set of commands; you lose all sense of anything else.

I tried one for the first time the other day; it got me to my destination, but I would have been happier with a map. Then the battery died on the way home, and I ended up actually following the setting sun, since I knew that would get me more or less west, until at last I hit a road I knew.

[kaishin108.livejournal.com]

I know I am late in replying to this but I totally agree! I love to read maps and it really does help with orientation.