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Personally I try to turn GPS off as much as possible but I also frequently consult it even for routes that I know well. And come on, maps are excellent, there's

Personally I try to turn GPS off as much as possible but I also frequently consult it even for routes that I know well. And come on, maps are excellent, there's no garbage there. Last weekend I was frustrated that Google was unaware of a road reroute but that is leaps and bounds ahead of the days of paper maps. Yeah, there's a lot of garbage on the Internet but it's also remarkably easy to find high-quality information. The change over even 10 years ago is also really dramatic for how I use public transit, since I not only know where I am but where the vehicles I'm planning on getting into are so I can reroute that way. It's only in the past 5 years or so that the data has gotten reliable enough that I trust it to use in that way.

fieldcny 4y ago
I agree that GPS and maps/directions are a magnificent improvement. I remember what it was like to get lost, and be lost for hours, late at night nothing open, no one but unsavory characters out. I remember how hard long trips could be even with maps or trip-tiks from AAA (which were awesome) GPS enables all sort logistics, it allows transport companies to ensure trucks are driven safely, to know when and where goods in transit are there is an entire world of productivity improvement right there.
- troon-lover 4y ago
- dvdkhlng 4y ago
  But you need to be aware of the downsides of becoming inadvertently over-reliant on GPS [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_GPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_GPS
  - fieldcny 4y ago
    No offense, but that’s not really a downside of GPS, people make bad decisions all the time tech or no tech.
- adhesive_wombat 4y ago
  It'll also route you around major delays if it can. This saved me a three hour tailback only weeks ago (arriving at work after lunch would have been...irritating) and literally last week I didn't bother to set it on the way home and ended up in 30 minutes of standing traffic that it would have told me to avoid (there's an alternate route that's 10 minutes slower, but once you're in the wrong road you're committed and can't go back).
tablespoon 4y ago
> Personally I try to turn GPS off as much as possible but I also frequently consult it even for routes that I know well. I'm not saying it's not useful. I'm just saying it's not as big of an advance as it's being made out to be. > And come on, maps are excellent, there's no garbage there. I've above clarified, but my "garbage" comment was not referring to maps, but other kinds of material you'd fine online. Maps are actually one of the few types of online references that tends to have very little garbage.
- jjeaff 4y ago
  Not only gps, but just being able to find nearby hotels and check vacancy and prices. When I was a kid, we would pull in at multiple hotels and someone would have to go in and ask for prices and if they had vacancy. My mom would usually go and ask for the price because my dad felt like they gave her better prices. In fact, a few times they did - as he sent her in after he asked. So not only convenience and leveling the information playing field, but pricing fairness. I'm sure quite a few minorities would have some testimonials about the benefits of getting quoted the same price as everyone else.
  - dazc 4y ago
    > ...we would pull in at multiple hotels and someone would have to go in and ask for prices and if they had vacancy. Did they say they had only room left and 3 people were looking at it right now, despite it being obvious the hotel was only half occupied?
  - cudgy 4y ago
    Actually, I recall being able to haggle prices at hotels before the online booking sites became prominent. Also, there were travel agents (a rare breed these days) who could assist with booking flights, hotels, and sightseeing. There seems to be advantages and disadvantages to each era. However, I largely consider technology advances to be rather unimpressive, especially services and apps built on the internet. Access to information has definitely been improved though, but this is one of the few major improvements and now with more information being siloed behind corporate mega-sites we may be regressing back to the libraries for free access again.

fieldcny 4y ago

I agree that GPS and maps/directions are a magnificent improvement. I remember what it was like to get lost, and be lost for hours, late at night nothing open, no one but unsavory characters out. I remember how hard long trips could be even with maps or trip-tiks from AAA (which were awesome) GPS enables all sort logistics, it allows transport companies to ensure trucks are driven safely, to know when and where goods in transit are there is an entire world of productivity improvement right there.

troon-lover 4y ago
dvdkhlng 4y ago
But you need to be aware of the downsides of becoming inadvertently over-reliant on GPS [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_GPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_GPS
- fieldcny 4y ago
  No offense, but that’s not really a downside of GPS, people make bad decisions all the time tech or no tech.
adhesive_wombat 4y ago
It'll also route you around major delays if it can. This saved me a three hour tailback only weeks ago (arriving at work after lunch would have been...irritating) and literally last week I didn't bother to set it on the way home and ended up in 30 minutes of standing traffic that it would have told me to avoid (there's an alternate route that's 10 minutes slower, but once you're in the wrong road you're committed and can't go back).

tablespoon 4y ago

> Personally I try to turn GPS off as much as possible but I also frequently consult it even for routes that I know well. I'm not saying it's not useful. I'm just saying it's not as big of an advance as it's being made out to be. > And come on, maps are excellent, there's no garbage there. I've above clarified, but my "garbage" comment was not referring to maps, but other kinds of material you'd fine online. Maps are actually one of the few types of online references that tends to have very little garbage.

jjeaff 4y ago
Not only gps, but just being able to find nearby hotels and check vacancy and prices. When I was a kid, we would pull in at multiple hotels and someone would have to go in and ask for prices and if they had vacancy. My mom would usually go and ask for the price because my dad felt like they gave her better prices. In fact, a few times they did - as he sent her in after he asked. So not only convenience and leveling the information playing field, but pricing fairness. I'm sure quite a few minorities would have some testimonials about the benefits of getting quoted the same price as everyone else.
- dazc 4y ago
  > ...we would pull in at multiple hotels and someone would have to go in and ask for prices and if they had vacancy. Did they say they had only room left and 3 people were looking at it right now, despite it being obvious the hotel was only half occupied?
- cudgy 4y ago
  Actually, I recall being able to haggle prices at hotels before the online booking sites became prominent. Also, there were travel agents (a rare breed these days) who could assist with booking flights, hotels, and sightseeing. There seems to be advantages and disadvantages to each era. However, I largely consider technology advances to be rather unimpressive, especially services and apps built on the internet. Access to information has definitely been improved though, but this is one of the few major improvements and now with more information being siloed behind corporate mega-sites we may be regressing back to the libraries for free access again.