GPS rant (or "how situational awareness lapsed")

[Sandcut]

Morel42's recent post about his unintended trip to Maryland brings up an issue that I thought meritted conversation. This stems from our over-reliance on technology.

IIRC, Morel was using his GPS and, presumably, just recalculated his route at the construction detour. If correct, this just reinforces why I hate people's reliance on car GPSs. I keep maps of every state that I travel in/through and I plan the route I take carefully.

We here at PAFOA talk a lot about situational awareness. Well, having a mental picture of where you are and where you want to be while driving is just as important as knowing where you are and what's going on around you while walking in downtown Philadelphia.

Reliance on technology often replaces personal responsibility. This is by no means a slam on Morel, more like a chiding of our culture in general. My office is in Gouldsboro, PA. I've had more than one occasion where furniture shipments, IT support, etc. have ended up in Goldsboro, PA down around Harrisburg over 3 hours away just because the drivers declined verbal directions and stated "It's OK, I've got my GPS."

Now I know someone reading this is saying "Well, you're just an archaic POS that can't keep up w/ changing times!" That's only partially true. I do have two hand held GPS units and the navigation function on a Balckberry Storm and I use them regularly. My point is, I don't rely on them as my sole point of reference while navigating. I still rely heavily on things like maps, the dashboard compass on my vehicle, landscape position, and geographic features like hills, streams, etc.

I've also read an article relatively recently where the Air Force/Navy was having difficulty training pilots to navigate because of their over-reliance on GPS and their inability to navigate by "dead reckoning."

Thoughts?

[pirateron]

We live in an instant gratification demanding society. Do you still memorize peoples phone numbers or just store them in your phone? We have fast food, cell phones, convenience stores, ATM cards, direct deposit, automatic payment of bills. We don't read newspapers anymore, we have books on CD for our travel companions. We drink coffee out of paper cups (if you don't care about the environment) instead of sitting and enjoying it. We text message in church and business meetings, use bluetooth to talk on the phone so we can surf the web or drive or whatever while on a call. It goes on and on.

Problem is, we have less time or inclination to do slow paced activities. We are too caught up with "getting things done" that any new gadget that does something for us, we get and rely on.

Can't stop "progress." Imagine how much time we can "save" tomorrow.

[Vig]

I love my old GPS.

It saves me from having to thumb through an atlas by giving me instant access to my position on a map. I don't use it for anything but that. No routing information, just the maps.

[Rosco the Iroc]

I still use GPS 1.0 my own sense of direction.
Also Rand McNalley maps rule.
I LOL if you watch Bullrun on Spike/Speed no GPS is allowed and everyone is messed up cause they can't read and plot a couse on an map.

[soberbyker]

I have a Garmin Zumo 550 GPS that's made for a motorcycle, waterproof and all mounted on the handlebar, can be used in a car/truck too. Makes life a lot easier on the bike, don't have to stop and look up where I am or where I'm going. I also like maps, I've been a truck driver for 20+ years I live off of maps, but for the bike GPS is the way to go.

.

[LittleRedToyota]

Thoughts?

i'm a archaic POS that can't keep up with the times also...

then again, when the terrorists finally figure out how to take out all of our satellites, i'll still be able to find my way from point a to point b.

using a GPS is cheating.