Quote:
Originally Posted by Viseguy
You're kidding, right? Or maybe you don't drive.
I'm out of town on vacation. Today I used the GPS to find the nearest post office. After that, we wanted to take a walk on nature trail. A couple touches of the screen brought up a list of a dozen parks in the area, then gave spoken and visual directions to the one we chose. Yesterday I used it to navigate to and around the nearest big city.
When you're in unfamiliar territory, or even when you're close to home, there's nothing like knowing the distance to the next turn or interchange, the direction of the turn and the lane you need to be in to make it, the speed limit at any given location (and your current speed), the distance remaining to your destination, the estimated time of arrival. Other good stuff includes a spoken announcement when approaching a rest area or other point of interest, or a beep when you're in range of a traffic camera. The list goes on.
Once you experience these amenities, you'll wonder how you ever managed without them. It definitely beats getting half-baked directions in a gas station at one in the morning. (But the GPS will guide you to the nearest gas station if you need one.  ) |
hmmmm. I've been driving 45 years without one and have managed to do just fine. I don't worry about traffic cameras because I don't normally exceed the speed limit nor run red lights. I only rarely have trouble determining which lane I need to be in (and still, I manage to get there when I need to). I've found directions from local yokels to be accurate enough when I need them. They will also know about road construction to avoid, etc. I usually know how far to the next turn, etc., because I pay attention to road signs or a map. If I don't know, again, I just pay attention; I'll see something eventually.
There is a lot to be said for planning a trip in advance. I do print out one or two maps when going to a new destination (one of the destination and one telling me how to get there if I don't already know). If the initial destination is a motel, I use their directions. Rarely, if ever (I do not recall having problems), do they me. I have a road atlas in my truck in case I want to change my plans (it rarely gets used). I update it every few years for one heckuvalot cheaper than GPS updates (the first one costs one heckuvalot less than a GPS unit).
Sure I get lost once in a while. Friends of mine with GPS units have reported getting lost with them too. Getting lost is not the end of the world (although it seemed like it once in downtown San Francisco with its insane maze of oneway streets and no turn signs; even then, I knew where I was, just not how to get where I was going). Often, getting lost just becomes an adventure and you see things you might not have otherwise. I always allow extra time when traveling for unplanned stops, traffic, whatever, so getting lost is not that big a deal.