In Defense of GPS

Through the years, I've generally been a big fan of John Dvorak's commentary, as featured in PC Magazine, and on the web in various spots.  When I read his commentary, I often nod my head, and realize that he is "preaching to the choir."  However, I was kind of surprised when I read his latest commentary the other day:

The Nokia promotions for the company's new GPS phone, not to mention that every new car is being equipped with GPS, should give the technology a boost, yes? Maybe, but I've come to the conclusion that of all the unnecessary and expensive geegaws in the world, the GPS device is at the top of my list.

He goes on to say that a map is better, and the only real reason is to entertain the kids.  I must say that this is rather narrowminded, and pretty far off the mark from where I am sitting.  For the record, I have a compass in the car, and have excellent map reading skills.

On one trip, I used a map that the local hotel was giving out.  It wasn't to scale, I figured this out later, and ended up rather lost trying to find a local movie house.  A twenty minute trip turned into more than double the time.  It is not only difficult, but quite dangerous, to read a map while driving down the interstate highway.  

When I plan a car trip, I like to stay a day or two in several different locations.  Before GPS, I would have to plan out the route between the hotels and run the routes through MapQuest.  I would end up with 50 sheets of paper for a week long trip.  Things would get further complicated when I decided to change the number three of six hotel to another town.  It was impossible to have directions from any point of interest, an attraction, to another, such as a restaurant.  Maps are usually not detailed enough once we get out of downtown areas.   Clearly there had to be a better way.

With affordable GPS units (translation: less than $500), my interest in the devices goes way up. Now I can leave the 50 pages of stapled together MapQuest at home.  When driving along, when I want some food, a few button presses and a route is mapped out to any cuisine I desire.  I can go exploring with reckless abandon with the knowledge that when I want to head back to the hotel, the GPS will route me directly back home.  My Garmin unit also can tell me pretty accurately the time of arrival to my destination.

Mr. Dvorak, you mention that you used all earlier GPS products.  I suggest that you try something more recent.  Then, like me, you'll be freed from door pockets of maps (that can be impossible to refold), and harder to read while driving along.  Even wrong turns are no problem as the computer remaps out the route in seconds!  While GPS is not truly necessary like water and oxygen, neither is the rest of this electronic technology that makes our lives a heck of a lot more convenient.  Of the products I've purchased over the last few years, my GPS unit is one of the better items that I have bought.

In the interest of both safety and convenience, you should give GPS another try...

--Jonas