What is the point of having an auto navigation system
By: Owen Jones
Maps are essentially flawed. By the time the surveyors have finished and the data that they have collected has been mapped out and the printers have published the map and sent it to the distributors and they have sold it to the shops and you have made up your mind to buy one, it is out of date. Occasionally years out of date
Another difficulty is that it is impossible to read a map and drive carefully at the same time. You cannot read a map and look out of the windshield at the same time. So, you either need a co-pilot who can read a map, or you have to stop repeatedly and memorize a small part of the map. That is all right, people did it that way for a hundred years or more, but now there is a better way.
GPS satellite navigation systems have been around for a long time. At first they were only utilized by aircraft and ocean liners. As the price fell, yachting people could afford them; later still long distance lorries had them, then very expensive cars and now practically all cars.
In spite of the odd story of someone driving into a river in the dark, because the driver trusted the sat nav and the sat nav did not know that the bridge had been removed, the auto navigation system has been a resounding success.
I am certain that family Sunday outings are far happier now that the spouse does not have to do the map-reading; lone travellers do not have to stop to get their bearings and lone female drivers are more secure because they do not have to stop to ask directions.
Being lost at night or having broken down in the countryside or even taking a wrong turn into a rough district of town is terrifying. Even if you have your cell phone to call the breakdown service, you have to know where you are and if you are in a rough area of town by mistake, you do not want to stop to ask the way and you certainly do not want to go farther off the beaten track.
Then there are the detours that we want or have to make because of natural disasters, break-downs, traffic jams and roadworks teams. Often you will get advanced warning on the local radio of trouble spots up ahead, but if you do not know the neighbourhood, there is not much you can do about it. Unless you have an auto navigation system.
I know many people who do not use their auto navigation system every time they get into their car and that is how it should be for those people, but it is like insurance, it is good to have it when you need it.
No-one needs an auto navigation system to go to the neighbourhood shop, but it is really nice to take the scenic route the next time you go out of town to visit a relative. Perhaps you always take the same route when you visit your Aunty Lil, but with an auto navigation system you can vary your journey to pass local attractions.
Another difficulty is that it is impossible to read a map and drive carefully at the same time. You cannot read a map and look out of the windshield at the same time. So, you either need a co-pilot who can read a map, or you have to stop repeatedly and memorize a small part of the map. That is all right, people did it that way for a hundred years or more, but now there is a better way.
GPS satellite navigation systems have been around for a long time. At first they were only utilized by aircraft and ocean liners. As the price fell, yachting people could afford them; later still long distance lorries had them, then very expensive cars and now practically all cars.
In spite of the odd story of someone driving into a river in the dark, because the driver trusted the sat nav and the sat nav did not know that the bridge had been removed, the auto navigation system has been a resounding success.
I am certain that family Sunday outings are far happier now that the spouse does not have to do the map-reading; lone travellers do not have to stop to get their bearings and lone female drivers are more secure because they do not have to stop to ask directions.
Being lost at night or having broken down in the countryside or even taking a wrong turn into a rough district of town is terrifying. Even if you have your cell phone to call the breakdown service, you have to know where you are and if you are in a rough area of town by mistake, you do not want to stop to ask the way and you certainly do not want to go farther off the beaten track.
Then there are the detours that we want or have to make because of natural disasters, break-downs, traffic jams and roadworks teams. Often you will get advanced warning on the local radio of trouble spots up ahead, but if you do not know the neighbourhood, there is not much you can do about it. Unless you have an auto navigation system.
I know many people who do not use their auto navigation system every time they get into their car and that is how it should be for those people, but it is like insurance, it is good to have it when you need it.
No-one needs an auto navigation system to go to the neighbourhood shop, but it is really nice to take the scenic route the next time you go out of town to visit a relative. Perhaps you always take the same route when you visit your Aunty Lil, but with an auto navigation system you can vary your journey to pass local attractions.
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