Would you rather use a GPS or a paper map and your own brain?

I love how GPS will give you an alternate route if you miss a turn but I would be happier having an up-to-date paper map. I’m still too old school but I don’t trust technology all the time.

I’m really good with maps, so I don’t often find I need to plan the route or anything. But I will leave the GPS on so I can see where on the map I’m going. Better than taking my iPhone out while driving or looking at a paper map while driving. I can usually end up planning the route beforehand and memorize it if it’s not too complicated.

I’m not one of those people who has no sense of direction (like some of my friends). Even if I’m relying on the GPS to tell me where to go, I still know where I am. I have mental images of maps ingrained in my head. :)

The worst was that time my boyfriend and I were lost in L.A. and we were in a car with no GPS and both of our iPhones had died (and we had no chargers). We eventually found a gas station in Glendale and bought an $8 map. :P

I like the talking lady. I do wish I could talk back to her though. She never listens….recalculating….recalculating

We have a GPS in the car but i don’t use it often, the voice is a Guy and joke with the Wife that she has another guy in the car she’s seeing! I have actually experienced him being Wrong and then call the company and tell them and they go “Huh”..

A GPS would drive me nuts! SHUT UP! I’ll take a map any day. Plus, some have reported that they’ve been given incorrect directions & one couple got lost & stranded. I realize common sense goes along with it, but I don’t think I’d trust one.

I was thinking that I might like GPS in a large city, but realized I’d probably just take a cab.

Like I said, ours sent us 30 miles down a dirt road that ended in a dry river bed in the Mojave Desert… Then told us to Turn left right up the 60 degree bank- all I can say good thing we had 4WD!

I have all three. GPS wins.

Paper map because I won’t have to think about batteries.

My brain and a paper map. I like to have my own mental map, and a paper map helps aid me to do so.

A GPS for driving purposes is a gigantic bother and a waste of money in my opinion.

@phil196662 See what I mean?

Paper map and compass.

gps

The lady told me to turn right into a wall, so I used my head and said no. It scared me, I thought she was gonna yell at me like my mom did when dad didn’t ask for directions.

A GPS is useful, but I like to plan my route out with a map in advance. GPS directions are pretty poor, and a helpful navigator next to you is more useful. Particularly on interstates where the GPS doesn’t understand the existence of express lanes, and simply tells you when to bear right, but doesn’t give an exit number or tell you when to get off the express. GPS data quality also appears to be declining lately (oddly enough) and GPS is mostly useless in the downtown of a large city or in densely forested backcountry, particularly at high latitudes.

I like GPS, and I’ll use it, but people some people have become far too reliant on it. It works best in coordination with a map, at least as backup.

On long trips, I would much rather have a GPS. My sister and I live about 500 miles away from our family, and before my sister got a GPS we used maps and would sometimes take the wrong exit or not take an exit at all or get mixed up somehow. It happens. But we’ve never gotten lost with the GPS! Plus it’s nice to have when you want to look for a certain gas station or restaurant. It also came in handy when our tire blew out one time in bumf*ck Georgia and we had to find a repair place at 11p.m…the GPS listed all the numbers of the repair places in the area. Very helpful.

@jbfletcherfan EXACTLY how I feel! It’s annoying and…it’s startling. Everyone’s quiet and all of the sudden this electronic voice blares out!

These stories about the GPS sending people off the edge of the world are hilarious!

@Frankie you point out some good points of the GPS, but the fact that it hasn’t gotten you lost yet is mostly luck. ;-)

Here’s another one… The Wife and I got in the truck and programmed “Stinson Beach” an area just north of San Francisco on the coast road highway one, we had been there dozens of time having lived her all our lives but wanted to see what would happen. Got us over to Muir Woods ok but then when we descended to the coast and it told us to turn right in the correct direction it suddenly prompted us to turn left at next street that turned out to be a Bike Path down to the beach so Smart we are- We parked!

@Snarp Probably. I’ve heard those stories of people being guided to the middle of nowhere, too…hopefully our good luck continues!

Isn’t GPS just an interactive map…? Why would a static map be better?

I usually bring up mapquest. Get my directions.
Look it over.
At that point I do not need anything, as I have am image in my head.

@phil196662 Like that commercial for some fast food company…the GPS wants the guy to get there ASAP, tells him to turn left. Dude says, “That’s somebody’s back yard!”
GPS yells, “Shut up and drive!!!”

Have not seen that one @Val123…

@nikipedia Most GPS used in cars have voice navigation systems that select the route for you and give you audible directions. If the data are bad (which they are), these systems can pick incorrect routes and give you bad directions. GPS is more like a compass with a you are here pointer than a map. While most units do have maps, they are far too small to easily read or plan in advance with yourself. A paper map is better for planning a route because it is much larger. Really they are great tools, but they become more problematic when people become entirely dependent on them. I have seen this with my dad who kept trying to follow the GPS directions around Washington D.C. The GPS had him making an enormous loop and several different streets to get on the interstate when all he had to do was turn left and drive 50 meters to the on ramp.

When my dad was alive he could plan these amazing camping trips, plot the route on maps and know everything we wanted to see. It was not uncommon for me to go into the spare bedroom and find dozens of maps on the floor Organized with marker lines that would show the Entire route! Start at the beginning and go from map to map and follow the line, he also had an envelope for each stop with important info he had sent for in the mail! Remember this was when computers and cell phones had not taken over yet…

@phil196662 Was your dad an engineer of some kind, by any chance??

LOL

You know. There was a time we got around and went EVERYWHERE. Without a GPS or a map from the internet.

There was also a time where we lived in huts made from mud.

Your point?

@J0E I lived in one once. My sisters and I made one down at the creek. I lived in it for about 15 minutes.

I think @ChazMaz main point is, a whole lotta bunch of us remember when there was no cable, cell phones, etc. He’s referring to in this lifetime.

@Val123 – He liked to know where he was going and not miss things along the way!

You usually do not miss things along the way when you and everyone else is looking out the windows.
Instead of watching movies on the DVD player or playing video games. :-)

When I’m driving I miss a LOT of things along the way! Even if someone yells, “Look at that!” I don’t look. I don’t take my eyes off the road.

@ChazMaz I agree. A GPS is just like everything else we use that’s made by modern technology. We have cells instead of land lines, we email & IM instead of writing letters, we Google instead of using libraries & encyclopedias & use GPS instead of using maps. Some of this is good…some is BS.

Paper map. I can figure out exactly where I need to go, other routes, and write it down. I despise gps.

@casheroo I’m with you. I’ll mark my route with a highlighter, and also put the main points on paper and refer to in from time to time…when there’s no traffic about, or up coming decisions to be made, like passing a car.

@phil196662
When they’re good they’re good but when they’re bad they are SO bad. I always stop at garage sales and it’s brilliant when I want to pop in an address from a sign. They’re also great for finding, food, gas, lodging, stores etc in a strange town. 99.9% of the time they’re right except in the case of an old planned road that doesn’t exist, changed name, out of business store or misentered name-street instead of west street etc….but I also find spreading a map on my windshield really too obstructive for some reason..~

Personally, I prefer GPS since I don’t need to pull over and find myself on the map; I am the arrow in the middle of the screen and there is a map around that arrow. It also helps me avoid dead-end streets that are not always marked, know when there is a hidden street coming up when in an area I am not familiar with, and otherwise function when there are missing/hidden road signs.

Granted, I often don’t use the actual destination finding function or I rely on it’s ability to update the route automatically (and my Magellan does that quicker than any Garvin I’ve seen) but it comes in handy a shitload more often than the Thomas Guide that some people swear by, if for no reason other than I can consult it without pulling over.

While I used to distrust GPS due to bad experiences with Garvin and TomTom, I have to say that the worst my Magellan has ever done is try to guide me towards a main road that I know is both longer distance-wise and is under (re)construction until mid-2011. It hasn’t pulled the same sort of ass-hattery that other units I’ve used have.

@jerv
OMG I’M ALSO THE ARROW!~

@Snarp That is why I use mine as more of a scrolling map than an actual co-pilot/navigator.

Well, lets see….......we have a computer to give us information, we have a computer at banks to tell us our account balances, we have a computer that calls when our prescription is ready, we have flattop computers to take with us when we are on the go, so i believe i will leave a gps system in the box and use my old-fashioned road map. computers have told me what to do long enough. my only source of fighting back is to use my trusty roadmap. i may not win the war, but i am still in the battle.

Good for you, @Val123!
Can I have your gps?

I’ve really grown to like GPS over the years because I can enter names, addresses and search for things I want and then get a visual of where I’m supposed to be headed as well as step by step directions.

@john65pennington What? You don’t derive any pleasure from ignoring the instructions of that squawking box? Personally, I rather like saying, “Fuck you, I’m turning here!”

a good GPS shouldn’t get you lost. They also have the option of being viewed in 3d or 2d or paper mode.

I prefer GPS because I think it is safer than looking at a map while your driving and I hate pulling over to look at them.

If your getting bothered by the thing telling you to turn to often, on a lot of them you can adjust the settings so it doesn’t do pre announce.

The data for any decent gps, and that would be one of at least 3 affordable brands, are not bad, and can be updated for free with in months of purchase.

Also, most decent gps have dry run throughs that let you preview your rout at 200 or 300 times speed so you can see where it’s going and alter it if need be.

Mine doesn’t have the “dry run”, but it does have a turn list that you can review.

I love the GPS but you have to use some common sense when trusting directions to a computer. When it says right and the street tells you that you can only turn left then use some common sense.

jerv….......totally agree. i hate a computer to tell me anything. good choice of words.

My brain and a paper map. I am very good at map reading.

FIRE BAAADD!
Paper Goood~
@casheroo
You despise GPS? Come one..Is is that intense? It’s just a useful tool. We can all read maps but why waste time?
You can use e-mails without a stamp too

@SABOTEUR I would gladly give it to you, but…well, it’s my husband’s and I THINK he’s having an affair with it. What law says the voice has to sound sexy??

@Val123
Mine just sounds like an English woman. I’ll take the sexy version

@Val123: Being a man, it’s not his nature to admit this…in fact, he’ll most certainly deny it…but the voice he’s selected for the gps is the closest to the voice he loves most…yours.

@SABOTEUR Well, aren’t you a smooth tongued devil! LOL!

One of those to each his or her own I guess.

I must have the GPS as the satellite signals do not penetrate my aluminum foil head gear.

All I know is, I wish mobile gps was available when I was a delivery driver. Once I left the hub in the morning I could wind up anywhere between Maryland and Northern Virginia. I always carried my road maps with me, but maps can become quite frustrating when you’re faced with deadlines and must stop to plot the quickest routes to several destinations covering several counties or states.

Then you run into the situation where several maps cover a state and you’re missing the map where the delivery or pickup is to be made. Then you have to either find a map somewhere or find a payphone (ARRGHHHH!!! – there were no cell phones then) to get verbal instructions from dispatch.

I’m sure delivery drivers today have it a whole lot easier these days.

All of the above. People who use pocket calculators should still be able to do simple calculations by themselves. In case GPS goes down kids of the future should be able to read maps.

@mattbrowne And count out change, for crying out loud.

@SABOTEUR Actually, that would be a time for GPS, when you’re making several deliveries in different areas. Plotting on a map would be quite time consuming.

for me it isn’t a question of whether I am able to use a map, it is a question of ease and safety. I don’t like trying to read maps while driving or stopping all the time.

Yeah, @Naked_Homer…what’s wrong with ease and safety…

…and why is Homer naked?

hehe. That is how he lounges in his kiddy pool with his beer and hot dog….mmmmmm….beer and a hot dog…...