Author Topic: GPS? Really  (Read 8332 times)

Offline Pop

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GPS? Really
« on: August 18, 2017, 01:45:28 PM »
Hello
I scanned all the GPS questions and none seemed to cover this. Doesn't anyone use a map anymore? What got me going is the story in this month's Popular Mechanics. "Could you drive 1000 miles without GPS? ".
Sad, people today trust those 'devil' gadgets with their souls. I've been a passenger where someone took 2 hours to get to a 45 minute destination. Somehow they had it set to no bridges or something equally stupid. I am prejudiced on this issue being a mapaholic. Love them, read them planning future rides. can't stand that voice reminding me more than my wife about the next turn. I hope the satellites all fall out of orbit. While you are watching that screen, you are missing something interesting.
Just my take on it.
Pop
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Offline azguzzirep

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2017, 01:52:05 PM »
Generally, no, I don't use GPS  for the majority of a trip.  But when in town, looking for a street or address, Y E S!
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Offline Guzzi Gal

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2017, 02:03:07 PM »
I too love maps, but use GPS when on the road.  Generally, I know how to get where I'm going, and GPS just zero's me in the last couple of miles.  My grandparents were huge RV'ers during the 70's, and I was the navigator.  We traversed the U.S., several times over, my 3rd through 5th grade summers.   
« Last Edit: August 18, 2017, 02:08:34 PM by Guzzi Gal »
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Offline pyoungbl

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2017, 02:05:36 PM »
map or GPS, each has its place.  For the big picture a paper map is perfect.  OTOH, if you are on a trip and need to find something specific like a bank or a bike shop the GPS is the answer.  In the rain I'll always choose GPS because I can actually see the screen whereas that map in my tank bag is useless. 

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2017, 02:05:36 PM »

Online rodekyll

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2017, 02:07:08 PM »
I grew up on boats and am quite comfortable with charts and a grease pencil.  I do my trip planning with paper and use the gps to find specific addresses or intersections.

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2017, 02:25:20 PM »
 I still prefer the get lost and ask a local method of local navigation . Of course it normally requires asking several locals how to locate anything but the McDonald's , but it is always fun to watch them struggle remembering where something like their own high school is .

 Dusty

Offline malik

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2017, 02:27:23 PM »
Agreed, finding an address in a strange town, the GPS on the phone comes in handy. Otherwise, my GPS Mk 1's (maps) are much more satisfactory. Although having the phone GPS saved my bacon once - early morning departure, ran into a thick cloud bank/heavy fog - couldn't see 50 ft in front - even of a familiar road I couldn't pick out the intersections - mounting the phone on the bike warned of upcoming turns & travelled the 30 odd miles more or less comfortably.

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Offline rtbickel

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2017, 02:33:06 PM »
Yes, maps for the big picture, GPS to find the pub in Bugtussle.
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Offline Lannis

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2017, 02:33:18 PM »
Hello
I scanned all the GPS questions and none seemed to cover this. Doesn't anyone use a map anymore? What got me going is the story in this month's Popular Mechanics. "Could you drive 1000 miles without GPS? ".
Sad, people today trust those 'devil' gadgets with their souls. I've been a passenger where someone took 2 hours to get to a 45 minute destination. Somehow they had it set to no bridges or something equally stupid. I am prejudiced on this issue being a mapaholic. Love them, read them planning future rides. can't stand that voice reminding me more than my wife about the next turn. I hope the satellites all fall out of orbit. While you are watching that screen, you are missing something interesting.
Just my take on it.
Pop

My take's the same as yours.   Some people use them as a tool, and that's fine.   I've done a lot of traveling (business and pleasure) and never really seen the need for them, but if other people do, that's OK.

Some people, people that I remember as being strong and self reliant, NOW will not leave the house on a trip without their GPS.   I mean ... Will ... Not .... Leave .... The .... House.    It's not like Oh, I forgot my $2.00 Hardee's coupon or Oh, I forgot my extra pair of sunglasses, oh well, that's OK.

It's like Oh, I forgot my insulin injector or Oh, I almost left my infant home alone.   It's PANIC, it's life and death.  It's the good old technology addiction that we're (well, "I'm") always talking about ... and it's adults, not kids, that have fallen prey to it ....

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Offline Triple Jim

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #9 on: August 18, 2017, 02:42:58 PM »
I do not believe in looking at a GPS screen, or any other distracting display, while riding.  I use Copilot as a map when needed, by stopping, getting out my phone, and looking at where I am.  The GPS part of it puts a dot on the map for my current position, and I can pan and zoom to see all the map information I need.  Copilot lets me download maps ahead of time so I don't need cell phone service for it to work.  I downloaded the maps that cover all of North America in a few minutes one day, and so far I haven't ridden outside that region.
« Last Edit: August 18, 2017, 02:43:41 PM by Triple Jim »
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Offline Huzo

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #10 on: August 18, 2017, 02:56:58 PM »
Hello
I hope the satellites all fall out of orbit. While you are watching that screen, you are missing something interesting.
Just my take on it.
Pop
Jeez hope not Pop. Wouldn't you miss being able to get on the forum with no more geosynchronous satellites? Also, what interesting thing are you missing while looking at the map? There's no fun in being lost 8 minutes before dark in a strange city in a foreign country in heavy traffic in the rain, looking for a camp ground and learning to ride on the "strange" side of the road. Nothing stopping you leaving it in the luggage and have your fun asking strangers who've lived in the town all their life and still point left when they said right. A guy once said to me, and this is the utter truth, " the first thing you come to is two roundabouts" !!!!!? Forget about it, if you want to make it harder (as my first wife said), ask a local. Or stop the BS and get the Tom Tom out. Mine has NEVER been wrong. Once it gave two indications at once and that was in a tunnel in Mandello, it knew I was on the road in the tunnel and also knew there was a road above. Brilliant !
« Last Edit: August 18, 2017, 03:12:28 PM by Huzo »

Offline Tom

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2017, 03:02:04 PM »
I use maps and I don't mind getting lost.   :shocked:
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Offline Huzo

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2017, 03:07:25 PM »
I do not believe in looking at a GPS screen, or any other distracting display, while riding.  I use Copilot as a map when needed, by stopping, getting out my phone, and looking at where I am.  The GPS part of it puts a dot on the map for my current position, and I can pan and zoom to see all the map information I need.  Copilot lets me download maps ahead of time so I don't need cell phone service for it to work.  I downloaded the maps that cover all of North America in a few minutes one day, and so far I haven't ridden outside that region.
Try that in the middle of Paris or Berlin at night. Good bloody luck !

Online normzone

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2017, 03:18:19 PM »
Some  omedian said " I have to leave the party when my phone gets down to 10%  harge, or I might not be able to find my way home. You drop me two miles from home without my phone and it's like an episode of Survivor for me. "

You may have noti ed the letter in the alphabet between b and d is not working on my keyboard, and I'm weary of  opying/pasting all the time.

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Offline Gliderjohn

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2017, 03:21:08 PM »
I use both. But give me a GPS anytime I need a specific address in a city of any size that I am not familiar with. Stopping to ask for directions is fine in small towns and rural areas, but does not work so well in downtown Denver during the rush hour.
One example is when my B-I-L first moved to Durham, NC. He needed some car work done and a coworker suggested a garage. He made an appointment and asked if they could give him directions from his house to the garage. The person responded by saying he has lived in Durham all his life and knew about where the house was but stated there was no way he could begin to give directions, just to confusing.
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Offline Huzo

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #15 on: August 18, 2017, 03:22:46 PM »
Some  omedian said " I have to leave the party when my phone gets down to 10%  harge, or I might not be able to find my way home. You drop me two miles from home without my phone and it's like an episode of Survivor for me. "

You may have noti ed the letter in the alphabet between b and d is not working on my keyboard, and I'm weary of  opying/pasting all the time.
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« Last Edit: August 18, 2017, 03:27:06 PM by Huzo »

Offline Triple Jim

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #16 on: August 18, 2017, 03:27:01 PM »
Try that in the middle of Paris or Berlin at night. Good bloody luck !

Ha, luckily it's not likely I'll have to do that.  :)
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Offline guzzisteve

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #17 on: August 18, 2017, 03:28:27 PM »
I use paper maps like I have always, I still get there. AND I can still read street signs, how bout that.  As far as asking directions, most w/a phone don't have a clue, they follow their phones.

I still look at the sun and go that way too, not L & R but N, S, E, W.
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Offline Huzo

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #18 on: August 18, 2017, 03:30:35 PM »
Ha, luckily it's not likely I'll have to do that.  :)
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Offline Huzo

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #19 on: August 18, 2017, 03:34:02 PM »
I use paper maps like I have always, I still get there. AND I can still read street signs, how bout that.  As far as asking directions, most w/a phone don't have a clue, they follow their phones.

I still look at the sun and go that way too, not L & R but N, S, E, W.
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Offline Triple Jim

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #20 on: August 18, 2017, 03:42:25 PM »
In the words of that great philosopher Ace Ventura... "WELL ALRIGHTY THEN !"

 :grin:    :boozing:
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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #21 on: August 18, 2017, 04:01:46 PM »
I use both. But give me a GPS anytime I need a specific address in a city of any size that I am not familiar with. Stopping to ask for directions is fine in small towns and rural areas, but does not work so well in downtown Denver during the rush hour.
One example is when my B-I-L first moved to Durham, NC. He needed some car work done and a coworker suggested a garage. He made an appointment and asked if they could give him directions from his house to the garage. The person responded by saying he has lived in Durham all his life and knew about where the house was but stated there was no way he could begin to give directions, just to confusing.
GliderJohn

 John , I follow Peter Egan's advice on this . Stay out of any city that shows up in yellow on a map :grin:

 Dusty

Offline Lannis

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #22 on: August 18, 2017, 04:03:12 PM »
In the words of that great philosopher Ace Ventura... "WELL ALRIGHTY THEN !"

Wasn't that Aunt Eller in "Oklahoma"?
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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #23 on: August 18, 2017, 04:09:48 PM »
Wasn't that Aunt Eller in "Oklahoma"?

 Yes it was , it's been co-opted by folks who aren't aware of the story .

 Dusty

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #24 on: August 18, 2017, 04:16:58 PM »
I love it when the British gal on my TomTom tells me to "turn right and take the mo ta way."  :thumb:
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Offline Gliderjohn

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #25 on: August 18, 2017, 04:23:47 PM »
From Dusty:
Quote
John , I follow Peter Egan's advice on this . Stay out of any city that shows up in yellow on a map :grin:

 Dusty

Totally agree but then sometimes one has to go to the big city.
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Offline Guzzistajohn

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #26 on: August 18, 2017, 04:49:57 PM »
It's. a great tool, I travel for work so I can tell a client exactly what time I will be @ their house but you have to be smarter than the gps to operate it correctly. I suspect most of the naysayers are too much of a cheap ass to buy one. However I don't use them much on the bike. Maybe on a long trip. I did ride from Springfield mo to Buenavista va and deals gap and never missed a turn or look at a map. My buddy Tim asked me if I'd been there before, I said no...... he wondered how I lead the whole way w/o a map.
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Offline Idontwantapickle

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #27 on: August 18, 2017, 05:17:06 PM »
Some  omedian said " I have to leave the party when my phone gets down to 10%  harge, or I might not be able to find my way home. You drop me two miles from home without my phone and it's like an episode of Survivor for me. "

You may have noti ed the letter in the alphabet between b and d is not working on my keyboard, and I'm weary of  opying/pasting all the time.

Couldn't you just spell copy with a k?
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Offline charlie b

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #28 on: August 18, 2017, 05:19:35 PM »
My tank bag always had a paper map in it.  Even when I had a GPS nd my phone with a GPS app on it, both mounted to the bars.  Sometimes I would change the phone to a weather radar app to track thunderstorms in an area.

I liked having the paper map to show the larger area, where the next towns were, geographic features like mountains/rivers, etc.  GPS was to make sure I stayed on the route I wanted to stay on.

FWIW, I used to be a paper map person only.  No need for stinkin GPS.  Then started towing a fifth wheel trailer.  Went through a small town with a highway intersection (US hwys).  I turned at the arrow.  Unfortunately the arrow was at a different intersection (1 block apart) and I ended up on a narrow two lane headed in the wrong direction.  Took me over an hour to get back to the right highway.  Next place we stopped I bought a GPS.

Still have to be vigilant.  Some GPS routes are wrong or take you on a road you really don't want to be on.  On a bike it doesn't matter as much cause you can just whip a uturn, but with a larger vehicle it does matter.
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Offline Lannis

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Re: GPS? Really
« Reply #29 on: August 18, 2017, 05:19:50 PM »
Couldn't you just spell copy with a k?

And let the spellchecker correct it!   That way you wouldn't NEED a keyboard, the "c" would come from inside the machine!

Genius!   Next, "bolour supplements" .....

Lannis
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