Stumble It!
Satellite Navigation
My thanks to prolific blogger Keith K, for the following piece, published on his blog, "Travelrat's Travels" recently. Keith also occasionally writes for Helium.
In the early 1990s, I was given a piece of kit to assist with my work. The Global Positioning System, or GPS. I wasn’t impressed.‘How is it’ I asked ‘that the bloody thing only works when I know where I am anyway?’
Nowadays, it’s the in-car navigation system, SATNAV, which, it is claimed, will do everything except put coins in the parking meter at your destination. However, we’ve all heard those horror stories about big trucks and coaches being directed along unsuitable roads, even railway lines and riverbeds.
I will admit SATNAV is a useful tool … but, like Wikipedia, any information you get from it should be treated as guidance, rather than set-in-concrete gospel. I think, for instance, of the time it announced ‘You have arrived at your destination’ at the end of a narrow lane, with an unmade track leading from it into the forest.
To be fair, if I’d continued along that track for a mile or so, I would have arrived at the restaurant I sought …but, I wouldn’t have given much for my suspension afterwards. Instead, I reached for the road atlas.
However, SATNAV won’t hear of you going this route. I swear, if you decide to follow the road-signs, instead of obeying its instructions, the voice gets shriller as it screeches ‘Turn around NOW !!!’ at you. And, do I detect an air of resignation when it finally decides to work out a new route from where you actually are …sort of ‘All right! If you insist!’
I have one thing to say about it. I don’t know where the quote came from, but for a long time, it’s been one of my favourites:
‘He who never got lost, never went anywhere’
Colin Morley (editor)
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
I sympathise whole heartedly! We used a navsat to try and negotiate our way through Glasgow and got hopelessly lost - the navsat threw all it's toys out the cot eventually and just stopped 'talking' - very amusing AFTER the event but extremely annoying at the time!
Don't you find those 'canned' voices just the most irritating thing too?
In the Netherlands we have TomTom. Using that will also get you to places you don't want to be, by roads you didn't choose and the voices tell you to turn left when on the left there is a canal. And men get distracted by the way 'she' says, with that just a little too low voice of 'hers': "Go straight on. Go on. Go straight on."
"Yeah I will, I will... I..."
"Watch out! A ditch!"
"Ooh no!"
Best thing is to have someone with you who can read a good map.