GPS mindlessness

[NE2]

I remember when Google Maps wouldn't let you use I-66.

[1995hoo]

I remember when Google Maps wouldn't let you use I-66.

It's funny, it now defaults to using I-66, at least for some drives. I use Google Maps fairly often when I've driven somewhere for business purposes but forgot to note down the distance I drove for tax purposes. I'll use Google Maps or Bing Maps and I drag the route to the roads I actually used and then note the distance in a spreadsheet I maintain for this specific purpose. Bing Maps refuses to route you onto I-66 inside the Beltway. Google Maps will send you there.

[realjd]

That's anal-retentive nitpickery, just like those who refer to their GPS units (Garmins, Tom-Toms, Magellans, etc.) as GPSr (GPS receiver) rather than just GPS.

The term "GPS Receiver" (and the acronym GPSr) is used to refer to outdoor GPS equipment like an eTrex. I've never heard anyone use that term to refer to GPS navigation equipment for cars. It's not outdoor enthusiasts being nitpicky on terminology, it's just what they've been commonly called for decades.

[apeman33]

The GPS on my Android phone is quirky at best. And it's affected by the performance of my phone, which can be pretty horrid sometimes.

Recently, I went to Branson and was urged to use the GPS on my phone by my mom, who was confused by the maps. At a certain point, the phone decided to shut itself off and I ended up at the end of a dead-end street, surrounded by apartment buildings.

My phone wouldn't turn back on and I told my mom to take over driving while I read the map. Worked much better than a GPS.

[kphoger]

The GPS on my Android phone is quirky at best. And it's affected by the performance of my phone, which can be pretty horrid sometimes.

Recently, I went to Branson and was urged to use the GPS on my phone by my mom, who was confused by the maps. At a certain point, the phone decided to shut itself off and I ended up at the end of a dead-end street, surrounded by apartment buildings.

My phone wouldn't turn back on and I told my mom to take over driving while I read the map. Worked much better than a GPS.

Branson still confuses me, and I've been going there since about 2003.  I have something better than a map or a GPS device:  my wife who grew up there and knows all the back roads.  The problem is, the tourists are starting to learn the back roads too.

[apeman33]

The GPS on my Android phone is quirky at best. And it's affected by the performance of my phone, which can be pretty horrid sometimes.

Recently, I went to Branson and was urged to use the GPS on my phone by my mom, who was confused by the maps. At a certain point, the phone decided to shut itself off and I ended up at the end of a dead-end street, surrounded by apartment buildings.

My phone wouldn't turn back on and I told my mom to take over driving while I read the map. Worked much better than a GPS.

Branson still confuses me, and I've been going there since about 2003.  I have something better than a map or a GPS device:  my wife who grew up there and knows all the back roads.  The problem is, the tourists are starting to learn the back roads too.

My problem with Branson is that my sense of direction gets confused by all the curves in every road and tells me that every road is east-west, so when I get to an intersection, I'm not sure which way to go. It was also my first time there, which likely didn't help.