Tuesday, October 28. 2008

Nav Devices...They're Like Spell Checkers..."It's OK Not to Think"

As I was driving back to my hotel tonight from the GEOINT conference in Nashville, a short five mile drive, I used my NIM-powered VZNavigator to find my way from the Opryland Hotel. And it dawned on me...PNDs are like spell checkers...they give you permission not to think.

Back in the day...I would prepare for this kind of short journey by using a paper map,  look for street names and landmarks. Now, I just listen...rather, I'm told where to go. It's like a spell checker; you don't have to spell very well but that's OK, your misspelled and sometimes horrible grammar get corrected. In this case, your navigation IQ can be amplified and generally you can "tune-out" to your environment. Such is the pity.

As we get more into connected nav devices and greater data streams allow for better navigation, we may (and I emphasize "may") lose local familiarity or the desire to navigate by landmarks. If you are looking for a business or other location and stop at a gas station, most locals will tell you to navigate by local landmarks..."Turn right at the McDonald's and head toward the Big 10 Tire sign...it'll be on your right..." or some such reference. I'd like to see if my next PND will navigate me by landmarks and POIs.

Posted by Joe Francica in LBS, GPS, Real-Time/Dynamic Data, Navigation, GEOINT 08 at 20:45 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0) |

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

Did you hear about the man who died of hunger because his SatNav didn't have a spell checker and he forgot how to spell the name of the street where the McDonalds drive-thru that he goes to every day was.

#1 Reuben on 2008-10-28 21:43 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email
Homepage
In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Reuben on 2008-10-28 21:43
Comment	Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_. Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:
	Remember Information?   Subscribe to this entry