Technology is often a blessing and a curse. For example, with Microsoft Word, it's good to have a spell-check feature. But what happens when a word is a homophone that you mix up and goes uncorrected, or worse, what happens when you're away from the computer and need to spell something? There looms the ever-present danger of over-reliance on this technology.
Similarly, I fear for our society as a whole regarding our senses of navigation. How many stories have you heard or times have you yourself experienced people having to MapQuest or Google directions for a location a few towns to a town over? And how many people use GPS devices attached or their windshields or GPS applications from their mobile devices religiously? I am not really one to talk, as I consider myself "navigationally challenged" and often do those very things, at least regarding the former. Realistically, there are a lot of streets and turns in even the smallest towns.
Still, it feels like we are over reliant on GPS technology. I worry we will get to the point when we can no longer tell north from south and that their abbreviations will come to simply be road markers. Instead of calling it "Interstate 95 South," we will read it as I-9-5-Ess, like a code or a serial number that would make more sense to a computer than a flesh-and-blood person. And even today, what about if your cellphone dies or your computer goes down or your GPS runs out of batteries? Will you be able to improvise and proverbially think on your feet if the power goes out? Or will computers enter every facet of our lives and am I really making a stink over nothing?
Do you think we are too reliant on GPS technology?
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Comments (18)
I'm directionally challenged, regardless. I think I'm the only person I know who will actually get lost when using GPS. Seriously, it happened. I ended up back tracking an additional hour.
I don't use GPS devices... lol. I suck with giving/following directions to whatever place I'm going to and almost always get lost, so my older brother or my dad take care of those things haha.
I've been using my GPS ever since I got lost in the ghettos of Baltimore. I have not look back since!
Eh, they're helpful. I like not being lost!
I think a lot of young people (late Gen Y and Gen Z) are probably losing their map-reading skills.
I use Mapquest frequently, but I can navigate a regular map like nobody's business. It's just easier to get a program to do it for you when you're planning a trip in advance. For all other closer-to-home and spontaneous excursions, I usually try to learn the roads on my own accord. It's good to go exploring once in a while and familiarize yourself with your surroundings; I frequently do it on bike.
I can navigate. But I have anxiety. So when i'm driving by Mapquest directions, I am constantly nervous about how much farther I need to go. Could it be an hour or more? Or could I have already passed it?
GPS's cured that =]
im terrible with directions, i dont even remember what street and avenue my university is! haha
so GPS helps =) me likey GPS
Yes! I like the old-fashion way... Just go and get lost. xD
Haha, I'm just kidding. :P At least MapQuest it and print it out would be better than affording a GPS.
I love detours. =3 I might end up in a magical world.
I do not use a GPS, my dad does but I don't
i'm glad i'm not the only person in the world who feels this way. people are completely to reliant on these devices. i recently went on a trip with some friends, and my friend who's car we were in couldn't drive around the corner to the gas station without typing it in to his GPS, and then the thing took us on all kinds of crazy routes. i didn't like it, and i held my head up high knowing that when the satellites go down, i can still read a map, and rely on my observational skills.
What does it say about me if I still can get lost, even after using a GPS.
And to top it off, I get lost in the world's smallest country, Singapore.
I use this really cool thing that was invented a really long time before GPS and even auto-mobiles! It's made of paper (another really cool invention!) Folds up and fits in the glovebox of the car, has a bunch of squiggly lines on it and words. It's called a MAP. Some people would say 'map.'
Maps are sold at gas stations and bookstores and various other places. They're not very expensive. A few dollars, compared to all the bucks people spend on those fancy GPS things... And they weigh about as much.
One of the nicest things about a map? If you accidentally leave it on the seat of the car, or the dashboard, it's not likely that someone is going to cut your ragtop or smash their way in to steal it. I don't think anyone would even bother to pick it up if they were already there to steal your iPod, stereo, laptop or purse.
I mean, seriously, who wants a map? No one knows how to read one... It's like they're written in some secret code. Most people can't even fold one. How cool is it if you can do both? I suppose not very... RIP Rand McNally...
Hmm, I dunno, bu that picture is the perfect compliment to this post, whether or not you picked it. If I didn't have a GPS that told me ahead of time to stay to the left immediately after staying to the right, etc., I would have missed about a bijillion exits/turns on I-290 by now. The merge lanes heading toward Rockford in some places are like a foot long, I swear, and the signs don't give near enough warning. So that's when the GPS can be good. Also, it tells you if you're going N,S,E, or W, so you can't really get that lost. That being said, I suppose the sun, stars, or moss could do the same thing...
maybe we do.......but some of us really need it. I suck at following directions and tend to get lost alot -.-" a GPS system is in my list of must haves!!!
It's okay if you don't know directions. You can't memorize the world. GPS is a lifesaver.
I'm going to go ahead and say, no, absolutely not at all. Not even a little bit.
It's just a lot easier than using a sextant to mark your position by the stars.
So don't blame technology for making shit easier.
i'm pretty directionally challenged, but if i'm going somewhere new, i never use gps. the only way for me to remember how to get somewhere is to drive it myself. the only time i've ever used a gps was to get into chicago for lollapalooza from minneapolis..and that's only because i'd never been anywhere near there and i was driving alone. :)
using a SATNAV, we got taken on a wrong road twice!