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.
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.
In a suburban area maybe a GPS is better than a map. Rural, forest, outdoors and desert areas, I’ll take a map.
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.
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.
Suburban NJ isn’t exactly “the middle of nowhere.” And it’s not normally 120 degrees in the shade for weeks on end, around the clock.
Map reading, land navigation, use of GPS, compass, the stars, sextant, the sun etc when used properly or alone will get ya home. I carry two, compasses and two gps devices as well as topographical maps and satellite images of the area traveled when in remote regions 4 wheeling or hunting.
Urban ...yes as you say, simple smartphone swarmed with cell tower data points works well, augmented with artificial waypoints I like to call street signs and addresses.....:o)
Remote regions, wilderness ..... whole different ball game. Map reading is a skill and very reliable.
Lifelong experiences from scouting to military land nav, SERE, geocaching, hashing and outdoor hobbies taught me to double or triple check with all the tools an knowledge at my disposal when / if time allowed.
Sad story here.....
Our GPS has a few times led us into some very shady neighborhoods. Like MLK Drives in a few cities. I now peruse the map carefully depending on what city we're in.