Ditch the GPS. It’s ruining your brain Washington Post Op-ed

[bing101]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ditch-the-gps-its-ruining-your-brain/2019/06/05/29a3170e-87af-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html

Interesting Points perception is one of them and checking on surroundings too.

Removed fbclid -- article has paywall --sso

[kalvado]

Lots of people here love to hate GPS - but it is only one side of a problem.
If you want to ditch GPS, remember to ditch Google as well and go to the library to go through an encyclopedia to look up the answer. That will also give you a lot of information only tangentially related to the question, for example. Doing taxes or budget? No computer or calculator, do it old style. Oil change? Grab some wrenches. Frozen dinner? Take out? Nope..

There is a huge shift in how we handle common tasks in general and information in particular. Singling out GPS, especially the way it is used in congested cities to find a way around the traffic, is fairly stupid.

PS. looking at the text above... Oh, and don't forget computer spell and grammar check... Need I say more?

[Hurricane Rex]

The US won't like that. Most of us can't go 15 minutes without our phones.

SM-J737T

[vdeane]

Lots of people here love to hate GPS - but it is only one side of a problem.
If you want to ditch GPS, remember to ditch Google as well and go to the library to go through an encyclopedia to look up the answer. That will also give you a lot of information only tangentially related to the question, for example. Doing taxes or budget? No computer or calculator, do it old style. Oil change? Grab some wrenches. Frozen dinner? Take out? Nope..

There is a huge shift in how we handle common tasks in general and information in particular. Singling out GPS, especially the way it is used in congested cities to find a way around the traffic, is fairly stupid.

PS. looking at the text above... Oh, and don't forget computer spell and grammar check... Need I say more?

The use of GPS navigation causes problems on the road.  The others don't (well, unless you're using your phone while you drive, but using an encyclopedia while driving would probably be worse).

[kalvado]

Lots of people here love to hate GPS - but it is only one side of a problem.
If you want to ditch GPS, remember to ditch Google as well and go to the library to go through an encyclopedia to look up the answer. That will also give you a lot of information only tangentially related to the question, for example. Doing taxes or budget? No computer or calculator, do it old style. Oil change? Grab some wrenches. Frozen dinner? Take out? Nope..

There is a huge shift in how we handle common tasks in general and information in particular. Singling out GPS, especially the way it is used in congested cities to find a way around the traffic, is fairly stupid.

PS. looking at the text above... Oh, and don't forget computer spell and grammar check... Need I say more?

The use of GPS navigation causes problems on the road.  The others don't (well, unless you're using your phone while you drive, but using an encyclopedia while driving would probably be worse).

Idiocy causes problems on the road - and in many other cases. Honorable mention goes to keep-right-no-matter-whatters between exits 1 and 2 and near exit 7 on Norhtway. Keep right because that is the law!

[wxfree]

I hate those "fbclid"s.  Facebook attaches that garbage to every link.  It's polluting the entire web because it's left attached when the link is copied.  It ends up in access logs, multiple times in referrers, making a bunch of unique links that all reference the same page.  I always remove that part, but there's really no point in it because they're still everywhere, complicating links and adding no value to anything.

[MNHighwayMan]

I hate those "fbclid"s.  Facebook attaches that garbage to every link.  It's polluting the entire web because it's left attached when the link is copied.  It ends up in access logs, multiple times in referrers, making a bunch of unique links that all reference the same page.  I always remove that part, but there's really no point in it because they're still everywhere, complicating links and adding no value to anything.

Technological literacy in this forum seems middling at best, so it's totally unsurprising that garbage links like that, along with amp links, link shorteners, etc get used fairly often here.

[SSOWorld]

and paywalls. that block both ad-blockers and private browsing

[wanderer2575]

[1995hoo]

Today's "Dustin" (which appears in the Washington Post) is right on point for this discussion.

[kalvado]

Today's "Dustin" (which appears in the Washington Post) is right on point for this discussion.

I had to use NYS map more than once to protect my legs from solar heat absorbed by black jeans...

[vdeane]

and paywalls. that block both ad-blockers and private browsing

That's what disabling JavaScript is for.

[ET21]

Long road trips I use a map to save the phone battery. I won't use GPS until I get closer and know I'll need to make many quick turns on side streets.

[1995hoo]

I was looking at the other thread about cities where the street numbering doesn't start at the city center and it made me think that local driving in an unfamiliar place, or in one with weird street numbering or discontinuous street names, is an ideal time to use some sort of navigation device. Arlington County, Virginia, is a great example because there are (among others) five or six different streets named Buchanan. The navigation system makes it a lot easier to get to the specific address you need and a paper map often won't help with finding the block numbers (some will, but many won't). Then there are places like Broward County where the "quadrants" change seemingly at random–for example, my brother-in-law's family live in Pembroke Pines near NW 186th Avenue, but if you leave their neighborhood on nearby NW 196th Avenue, the prefix changes to SW both to the south (logical enough) when you cross Pines Boulevard, but also to the north when you cross Sheridan Street. Yes, SW is north of NW in that area (and the SW part of that street is not in the separate municipality of Southwest Ranches, either).

But for long-distance driving out on the open highway, the devices can be useful for getting an ETA but too often cause people to miss the big picture and to be able to understand alternate routes.

[vdeane]

I think that's a great opportunity instead to pan your route in advance.  With Google Maps and street view, it's possible to plot out every turn such that you don't need the GPS.

I was actually reading an article the other day about how Seattle has traffic slow-downs because of locals being unable to navigate without GPS and waiting for it to tell them what to do.

[bing101]

I think that's a great opportunity instead to pan your route in advance.  With Google Maps and street view, it's possible to plot out every turn such that you don't need the GPS.

I was actually reading an article the other day about how Seattle has traffic slow-downs because of locals being unable to navigate without GPS and waiting for it to tell them what to do.

In my Case I watch Roadgeek videos for some routes before I get out of the door or when I take a tour so I know every turn and layout before I get out the door so I don't get distracted with GPS on my phone when I drive.

[In_Correct]

Lots of people here love to hate GPS - but it is only one side of a problem.
If you want to ditch GPS, remember to ditch Google as well and go to the library to go through an encyclopedia to look up the answer. That will also give you a lot of information only tangentially related to the question, for example. Doing taxes or budget? No computer or calculator, do it old style. Oil change? Grab some wrenches. Frozen dinner? Take out? Nope..

There is a huge shift in how we handle common tasks in general and information in particular. Singling out GPS, especially the way it is used in congested cities to find a way around the traffic, is fairly stupid.

PS. looking at the text above... Oh, and don't forget computer spell and grammar check... Need I say more?

Nonsense. G.P.S. can be used while driving. The other examples are not.

and paywalls. that block both ad-blockers and private browsing

That's what disabling JavaScript is for.

I use Java Script Toggle On Off. Other times I try to stop the page from loading. Usually the text loads just fine. Every thing else does not, but it is not needed. It is just a bunch of dumb things web designers like to add to make every thing complicated. The disabling of Java Script entirely does not always work for every day use. Some websites are a pain and will not even load at all if Java Script is disabled.

I think that's a great opportunity instead to pan your route in advance.  With Google Maps and street view, it's possible to plot out every turn such that you don't need the GPS.

I was actually reading an article the other day about how Seattle has traffic slow-downs because of locals being unable to navigate without GPS and waiting for it to tell them what to do.

In my Case I watch Roadgeek videos for some routes before I get out of the door or when I take a tour so I know every turn and layout before I get out the door so I don't get distracted with GPS on my phone when I drive.

I have watched many Road Geek videos before. I also eventually will post mine. But before ever drove on an Interstate or Turnpike for the first time, a Road Geek posted videos of the same route I was going to drive on. That was very useful. I have not watched the videos recently be cause I did not want to deal with his antics. I wanted to watch and listen to the road and traffic and general layout.



As for G.P.S. ... it is confusing. I do not use it. I will try to find a video about it to watch in advance. And I also print out maps. I might not use a regular road atlas all the time, and I might not know how to use G.P.S., but I still print out Google Maps!    I have Brother colour laser printer. I have it ready before even travelling. I worry if I turn on a Smart Phone, it would either drain its battery, or worry that it would overheat.

[1995hoo]

I think that's a great opportunity instead to pan your route in advance.  With Google Maps and street view, it's possible to plot out every turn such that you don't need the GPS.

....

Possible, but in my opinion also a nuisance if I'm going somewhere unfamiliar because the sat-nav will adjust if I wind up going a different way from what I plotted out at home (could be any reason–traffic, a wreck on the highway, saw something interesting and decided to detour, whatever).

Essentially, what I think a lot people overlook is that it's meant to be an aid, not a crutch.

[Hurricane Rex]

I should've expanded on my post from a few months ago. I do agree that we should plan our roads we travel on with maps rather than GPS and it will make the roads safer so I support it. But like I said, we are so reliant on our phones. Also runners and cyclists rely on GPS to get their runs to an exact pace. They do not use a map most of the time on GPS.

SM-J737T

[vdeane]

I use Java Script Toggle On Off. Other times I try to stop the page from loading. Usually the text loads just fine. Every thing else does not, but it is not needed. It is just a bunch of dumb things web designers like to add to make every thing complicated. The disabling of Java Script entirely does not always work for every day use. Some websites are a pain and will not even load at all if Java Script is disabled.

Chrome allows for JavaScript to be disabled on a per-site basis, and even only for a current incognito session.  I often use that setting if I don't know if I'll be using a site again to avoid cluttering the list.  Given that, if I'm on a news site, I almost certainly followed a link to an article from somewhere else, I don't really care if the rest of the site works, though it is unfortunate when I can't read comments on the few sites that have them still.

Disabling JavaScript works about 90% of the time.  For the rest, stopping the middle of loading sometimes works, or viewing the page source.  Unfortunately, Google's cache is no longer a reliable method.

[kphoger]

[yand]

Before a trip I plan my route, put the waypoints into my GPS app, and use GPS the entire way. When there is no time to plan, GPS is good enough.

Not only does the GPS provide timely new directions in case of missed turns, GPS apps also show critical info about slowdowns, crashes etc that are essential for situational awareness.

If you're concerned with battery life, get a charger or power bank. If you're concerned with overheating, get a light color phone case or mount the phone on a vent.

The idea that GPS users miss the big picture is ridiculous... if only the app let you zoom out. The GPS is no more a distraction than the speedo or any other information available to the driver. The ability to manage your attention can be learned.

[kphoger]

The GPS is no more a distraction than the speedo

Speedo are a huge distraction whenever I go to the pool.

[Rothman]

The GPS is no more a distraction than the speedo

Speedo are a huge distraction whenever I go to the pool.

I hate it when my car displays its speedo.

[kevinb1994]

The GPS is no more a distraction than the speedo

Speedo are a huge distraction whenever I go to the pool.

I hate it when my car displays its speedo.