Re:Death by GPS
by eggy on Sunday May 08, 2016 @11:39PM
(#11657463)
The younger generation is increasingly reliant on gadgets too for many things. When I was 11 my friends and I would take the subway to Manhattan from Brooklyn to go to Central Park, walking and the museums. We always agreed on a meeting spot at a set time, since this was 1975. Payphones were the only option.
I've been to the mall with my friends and their children, and there is no pre-planning, since they rely on the phones to meetup. However, when the battery dies, they're lost, or they rely on a friend's phone or charging station being available. There's an implicit reliance on redundancy, and blind faith somebody has a gadget.
I always taught my children to pre-plan. I have taken them around the world at young ages, and I think they have become better planners and thinkers when they are taught 'the old ways':)
I have traveled a lot, and I have lived in other countries, some remote places, and I have been lulled by technology too. Fortunately, not life-threatening situations, but I can easily see it happening.
A few days ago while driving in East Java, we followed the GPS into a sugar cane field. The road narrowed, was muddy, and started to diminish to almost just field. The road was on the GPS, and valid, but the van almost got stuck in the mud from the day's rain. This has happened to me about 2 to 3 times in 7 years, because smaller and smaller roads have made their way to the maps as mapping increases, and the GPS uses a traffic/length of route algorithm that sometimes has you turning off and back on to main roads to make time. I never would have followed that last turn-off several years ago.
I usually set the GPS to 'main roads and highways', but in some less-developed places this will put you at the mercy of weather, the vehicle's capabilities, and hoping that the routes have not changed since they were mapped. I also agree with other posters here in leaving it in overhead view with North as up. On a highway, no, but on twisty roads, yes. It is the only way you maintain orientation and a sense of the actual location you are in.
I've been to the mall with my friends and their children, and there is no pre-planning, since they rely on the phones to meetup. However, when the battery dies, they're lost, or they rely on a friend's phone or charging station being available. There's an implicit reliance on redundancy, and blind faith somebody has a gadget.
I always taught my children to pre-plan. I have taken them around the world at young ages, and I think they have become better planners and thinkers when they are taught 'the old ways':)
I have traveled a lot, and I have lived in other countries, some remote places, and I have been lulled by technology too. Fortunately, not life-threatening situations, but I can easily see it happening.
A few days ago while driving in East Java, we followed the GPS into a sugar cane field. The road narrowed, was muddy, and started to diminish to almost just field. The road was on the GPS, and valid, but the van almost got stuck in the mud from the day's rain. This has happened to me about 2 to 3 times in 7 years, because smaller and smaller roads have made their way to the maps as mapping increases, and the GPS uses a traffic/length of route algorithm that sometimes has you turning off and back on to main roads to make time. I never would have followed that last turn-off several years ago.
I usually set the GPS to 'main roads and highways', but in some less-developed places this will put you at the mercy of weather, the vehicle's capabilities, and hoping that the routes have not changed since they were mapped. I also agree with other posters here in leaving it in overhead view with North as up. On a highway, no, but on twisty roads, yes. It is the only way you maintain orientation and a sense of the actual location you are in.