Posted on 02/11/2016 8:31:39 PM PST by Utilizer
Even if Death Valley managers now are adding heat danger warnings to dozens of new wayside exhibits...
I never use GPS. Give me a map any day.
when I drove a cab, GPS was a lifeline.
When I got lost going to my sisters in NJ, i just talked into my phone, said the address, and the voice directed me there perfectly.
can’t see how a map can beat it.
I had a GPS once that kept telling me to go into downtown Oakland. No Way Jose.
You would be shocked if you knew how many people today cannot read a simple map. Unbelievable.
BUT this person did die, so obviously a map can beat a GPS in instances.
and its battery wont die :)
On the way to my parents house, the GPS tells me to turn left in the middle of a bridge above some railroad tracks. The road to my parents house runs next to the RR tracks, and driving off the bridge might be the shortest route, but not recommended, I’d say.
I learned to read one as a kid, just because we went on so many family road trips. I always wanted to be the “navigator”, so I knew exactly where we were and how long until we got to the next restaurant/hotel/whatever, instead of having to sit there bored asking “are we there yet?”
I bet with GPS so popular, a lot of people never get that kind of experience anymore, unless they are in the scouts or the armed forces or something.
In a suburban area maybe a GPS is better than a map. Rural, forest, outdoors and desert areas, I’ll take a map.
I was camping out in the middle of the California desert with some friends and this group comes along lost as can be. They had been going the wrong way on a dirt road that eventually petered out. They were using a GPS.
We got the map out and showed them the right road and pointed to a range of mountains that was in the direction they wanted to go for further insurance. Hopefully they made it out okay as I did not here of any news.
We did find a dead body on one trip. The guys car got stuck in the sand and he started walking in the absolute wrong direction to find the nearest road.
GPS is amazing little device, but I’ve seen it give bad directions twice already.... 99 percent good, yes. 100 percent, no way.
always have a map if you’re going into unfamiliar territory!
If you ever have to travel to the Oakland airport in California (for business purposes I would imagine) and decide to drive to an out-of-the-way spot to get a bit a’ tucker because it was recommended to you for some reason, you might wind up transiting through East Side Oakland to get to your next destination.
Not a trip with a guaranteed life-expectancy involved there, especially if you have car troubles. A lowly GPS device does not know to stay away from dangerous areas. It is designed only to get from one point to another in an expeditious manner using the roadways programmed into its memory.
No matter the terrain involved.
Charlie..call home..its a rental vehicle..Move back to your parent cellar...Your services are not needed..but thanks for your participation in the experiment.....You check is in the mail.......
lol!!
the person that said it is good in urban areas, but elsewhere not so much, I think hit it on the head.
for getting around staten island and brooklyn, it was good.
and you dont have time to look at a map for every pickup.
but yeah, in other areas, i’d bet the GPS isn’t quite as useful
In the early 1990s when GPS first became available to the public... we bought a handheld unit for our airplane. It had a rudimentary moving map that even showed special use airspace. It was revolutionary for flying. The GPS system was shut down twice while we were flying. I guess that would be almost unheard of these days.
I never flew the plane using the GPS without having a sectional opened up on my knee pad that I followed along with and continued to make notes while we were flying and also tuned in VORs on our NAVCOM radios. I still never rely completely on GPS while flying.
At least you know better. Those from out of the area probably would not. The article goes into more examples, albeit not from an urban environment.
East Side San Jose and East Palo Alto are every bit as bad, I believe, although some would argue as to which is the greater threat. Would not wish to be the one to learn the difference.
i remember one time, even after living here my whole life, i kept trying to find a road that was blocked by forest.
it finally dawned on me that some streets that were expected to be done by so and so time were on the map.
they were never done :)
I’m surprised they included Joshua Tree attendance in the figures. The high desert isn’t nearly as deadly as Death Valley, and JT doesn’t seem that easy to get lost in.
I never use GPS. Give me a map any day.
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You and me both! Reading a map you get a picture in your head and directions, north, east, south, and west. i don’t like GPS. Have used it a few times in Europe. Often tries to send you down the wrong road or tells you to exit the round point at the wrong exit. Only usefulness i can see is in a large city where it is difficult to see street names while driving.
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