But, I will say that the younger "GPS-only" generation seems to be significantly worse at Land Navigation. Reading maps to navigate meant you had to be good-enough with cardinal directions, etc. Those who have always followed the voice guide on their phone seem to struggle even pointing north, let alone determining which way to go.
GPS interuptions puts me on edge while I'm talking to passengers and changing lanes by muscle memory.
I can empathize with the younger generation struggling to point north, the UIs for GPS maps are surprisingly myopic.
That being said, at least in Apple Maps, when you stop using the turn-by-turn and the map zooms out, it does auto-orient to North being "up." I'm not sure if Google Maps does the same but I see no reason it wouldn't.
So rather than, back-up take chance in avoiding a pile-up and take the original exit.
My reply was how I would imangine of how those who do such dangerouse manoeuvers. Then again, people don't think and that includes using signal indicators.
For example, in much of the country (less so in dense old urban areas) a lot of highway exits are "diamond interchanges" so it is trivial to, at any exit, get back on at the same exit going in either direction.
In general a good driver is pretty aware of stuff like this, especially in their home areas, so already has a pretty good idea of what to do if they miss an exit.
I think starting out GPS-based rather than starting without it and graduating to it eventually, is a big mistake, as it encourages this kind of stressful thinking because navigation is totally outsourced.
I speak from experience -- I'm an older millenial but nevertheless started driving with GPS because I never started driving till my mid 20s. My first couple drives, in NYC, were in retrospect very dangerous to myself and to others, as my attention was divided between the GPS and basic skills like lane maintenance.
To this day I'm always so much more comfortable partly memorizing or really just reviewing the rough outline of the route on the GPS while parked before starting the trip. It just feels good for the GPS to truly remain what it should be -- an assistant, not a master.
Nowadays I’m completely dependent on my GPS but I don’t see that as a bad thing really. I know some people do, but it’s not a skill I need, why would I bother learning the route? I’m good at quick math and especially at getting “close to” (calculating a sale price, tip, etc) the right answer but I haven’t honed my long division skills in decades (I assume I could still do it, I know the method) because I have a calculator in my pocket always. In the same vein I don’t know assembly, heck I found EE to be boring as hell, I don’t care about logic gates but I can write software without issue.
Every generation stands on the shoulders of the ones that came before and it seems like every older generation hates the younger for doing so. It’s honestly tiring and reeks of “If I had to put up with X then so do you”. This is not aimed at your comment, just a general observation.
Mostly badly. I remember the thrill of printing MapQuest directions and if you missed an exit, your passenger then had to pull maps out of the glove compartment and start comparing them and the directions to find out the easiest way to return to your route. And hell, that was after MapQuest which in itself is Internet-based. I also recall vaguely being a kiddo when we would do family road trips, and my grandpa would navigate in the passenger seat with 2 or 3 different maps on his lap, switching between them as needed for a better look at wherever we were going.
I also remember my last truly "analog" friendships were in an apartment complex I lived at before we moved elsewhere and got our first internet connection. I have no earthly idea where any of those people are today, hell I don't even remember the school that well. We basically never "arranged" anything, and I mean, it's not like we were incapable, but we had no ways of contacting one another outside of when we'd meet at school or the bus stop. If a friend of yours was sick at home, you just didn't know what was happening with them for that day at all. Or, hell, if someone moved, unless they announced it ahead of time, that person who you might've been deeply acquainted with just vanished from the world one day, or over one particular summer.
Even as someone who technically spent the vast majority of their childhood without much technology, I don't recall really having many friendships until my first email account and later, flip phone with SMS enabled some manner of autonomous communication for me. Not sure if that's everyone's experience but it was certainly mine.