BTW, to those who do not read this and reply anyway, your comments will be labeled as such by the threadmaker and disregarded.

EMCE, you were posting earlier about navigation systems. Here's a funny story.

Two photogs are told to get to a school for spring portraits. One uses a GPS (Photog #1) and the other uses a physical map (Photog #2, me).

The only road leading to the school is under construction two blocks away. I find this out when I arrive half an hour early. I park near the railroad tracks, pissed and worried, and spot a gas station on the other side of the construction area. After informing Photog #1 of the situation and of my intent to get a detour, I get out (locking the doors on my equipment). I'd take my gear across the tracks and construction if it weren't for the fact that it's over 250 pounds on a cart.

At the gas station, between customers, I scratch down directions from a local employee to cicumnavigate the area. The new route requires four roads, each stretch lasting under a mile, and puts the driver out on the other side of the construction.

On the way back to the Civic, I call up Photog #1 again (still en route).

"[Photog #1.]"
"Hi."
"I've found out a way to get to the school, go ahead and drive to where the road ends and I'll be waiting to take you on the detour."
"I'll be there in ten minutes."

He arrives, and makes a u-turn behind me. I take him out and turn onto a side road. Looking in my rear-view mirror, his headlights in the early morning die off. Did he stop for oncoming traffic? There wasn't any. Did he turn off the road accidentally and crash? He was in a little bit of a hurry but always a safe driver, so I was sure that wasn't the case. Either way, I decided to call him again. I made a k-turn and came back to the intersection, and after pulling over the road, didn't see him anywhere. I called him up on my cell.

"[Photog #1.]"
"Uh yeah, my GPS told me to turn the other way into this housing district, I'm headed back to the intersection right now. Where are you?"
"Waiting at the intersection off the side of the road."

I watch as his van returns and turn in front him to lead him the rest of the way, using the directions.

It just makes me wonder if he had been able to think without his GPS, if he had been directed into someone's driveway. Help! I can't think! The GPS says it's this way!

3/7/2008 12:26:59 AM

tldr

3/7/2008 12:27:20 AM

I'm an EMCE enthusiast. I enjoy his posts immensely.

3/7/2008 12:27:52 AM

3/7/2008 12:27:56 AM

I'm horrible enough with directions that I don't care if the GPS takes me a roundabout route, as long as I get there.

3/7/2008 12:43:22 AM

allow me to chime in, i'm as close to an expert as you will find on here but seriously i am

the problem lies with mapmakers and programmers, not GPS itself. the typical Garmin or whatever has different layers of software. you've got your GPS which is pretty damn pinpoint accurate, and you've got your map layer. the only time the GPS is a possible cause is when you're a close enough parallel to another road where it cant decide which one you are on. think frontage streets on the interstate. and even then, it depends on the map layer

ever wonder why it always tells you to continue straight on the interstate occasionally when youre not even changing lanes? its a bunch of different square maps mounted on a round world model. and a lot of the maps are FUCKED UP.

in greensboro alone, i can think of 3 places off the top of my head where current maps (even from google maps) have roads broken and shit. like look up industrial drive in greensboro. its not a dead end. but it appears that way on the map, so it will never send you down that road to get through. and until those map flaws are discovered, reported, and patched... there are a few routes that get fucked up.

since tomtom uses the same maps that you use, its gonna run the gps user into a dead end, just like google maps did to you. not seeing how thats a big surprise. gps is the shit

3/7/2008 12:55:05 AM

i am currently taking a GIS course at ncsu

3/7/2008 12:55:38 AM

TOM TOM

3/7/2008 12:56:17 AM

GIS is fun. especially if you're the type to play with google maps for hours on end. map nerds i call them.

and speaking of map nerds, the microsoft live virtual earth thing kicks google earth in the nuts. the birds eye stuff is crazy. the only thing google has on microsoft is the street level stuff in a few cities. the birds eye view works in the darkest corners of hell.

3/7/2008 1:06:25 AM

That's what I'm worried about, overall - a lot of users view the GPS as God's gift to humanity. It tells us how to get to places, and we don't have to crack open map, set out trip odometer, estimate mileage, or even look ahead at the looming intersection.

So what happens when something unpredictable comes up in the recent months like a construction site, or a brand new road that does show up on the updated roads list?

3/7/2008 1:09:26 AM

^^yeah...only thing that sucks about arcGIS is how fucking complicated it is...but if you have the right maps and layers you can seriously do some terrorism type shit

3/7/2008 1:18:21 AM

same thing that happens in any other industry that depends on constantly changing information. people go to work every day and work with the info they have to make the product better.

but i dont consider them gods gift to humanity. i did use one for fun when i went to arizona. for an adventure. i entered my new address in tucson and just drove. it kept me on 40 all the way to AZ and then took me through the mountains.

it was a lot shorter than the other way but damn i was stuck in 20 mph S curves in the mountains for like 5 hours. like weeeeeeeeee

aside from that little adventure with telenav on my phone, i havent used it much. i actually have a tomtom that i'll sell if anyone wants it. unopened

3/7/2008 1:18:37 AM

Quote :

"it was a lot shorter than the other way but damn i was stuck in 20 mph S curves in the mountains for like 5 hours. like weeeeeeeeee"

I always preferred the curvy scenic roads in the Rockies.

3/7/2008 1:25:45 AM

IMMA RUN IT MA!

GET DA CAMERU!

3/7/2008 4:47:55 AM

I have a GPS for when I go camping. I never leave home without a compass and hard map though.


Yeah, a $400 GPS is cool, but with a $5 road map and a publicly funded road sign, I can know where I am with pretty much the same degree of precision.

3/7/2008 6:48:15 AM

3/7/2008 10:04:45 AM

I'm thinking about getting a GPS

5/20/2008 6:46:16 PM