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| Yes | 51% | 348 votes | Total: 677 votes | |
| No | 49% | 329 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhen the military introduced first introduced global positioning systems it was due to a few key reasons. Soldiers
needed to be located on the battlefield quickly, they needed to find where they where going, and the technology
was used for generating movement statistics like speed, traffic patterns, e.t.c. More importantly, the GPS was
introduced in travel to meet the technological demands of the fast moving information age.
As GPS made its way into the civilian population car manufacturers adopted it for the same basic reasons. Because it is highly convenient the presence of the technology in automobiles spread at a pretty good rate. GPS systems give the user the basic function of maps while adding extra electronic information needed for the operator to make decisions they are otherwise not available if the person was using a traditional paper map. Future demands of the electronic age will see a gradual merger from the use of standard maps with static information to electronic based GPS systems that can gather and pass on dynamic information to the operator quickly.
One of the reasons why GPS technology will replace standard maps in travel is the same reason why other types of
technology have replaced their more basic progenitors-as the information age progresses, the use of newly introduced
electronic devices become standard in their given industry as further advances are made to the same line of technology.
Technolog y push, the ingenuity and creativity of hundreds of companies that make up the inventions we see in the electronic industry, will keep introducing faster and smarter GPS systems that will become attractive to the needs of the travel and auto industries. These include safety requirements, easier traffic management, and communication. While this economic element drives the spread of GPS technologies another force, the "consumer pull", a continued demand of travelers that need such a technology will help drive the change-over from the more basic static maps we use to the more dynamic GPS system.
The needs and expectations of your basic traveler has changed since the invention of the static paper map. It will also continue to to change, possibly at an even faster rate to match continued advances seen in todays vehicles and roadways. Imagine yourself as a road traveler back in 1945. Most likely you only needed to know how far the closest city was. In the coming future when traffic conditions change at a more rapid rate, and cars become smarter, the needs and expectation of the traveler will be much more than just checking distance and route. As evident in a lot of todays emerging vehicular technologies, your vehicle, as a smart car or truck, will most likely need to know how fast other vehicles around you are going, you will need to know how far the closest fuel station is as your car compares that information to the fuel left in its tank. These increased travel needs are better met using the GPS.
Today, the transition from the use of the static paper map to the GPS is in full swing. We see an increase in the number of people using use travel technologies like Mapquest, and Yahoo Maps to plan their travel if presented with a new destination. These technologies are based on GPS satellite information. As the number of people using these GPS-related technologies increase, the use of static paper maps by travelers will decrease, and we will eventually see a complete transition to travelers using the more fitting GPS.
Although static paper maps where first, travelers are speeding into a more connected world, and global positioning systems are simply a better fit for the travel environment that road users in coming generations will be accustomed to.
Learn more about this author, Kenneth O'Mally.
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No
Technology has benefited the human race in a variety of different ways, allowing us to carry out our daily duties more efficiently whether at work or at home. There has definitely been a drive for a paper-less society, where technology replaces paper to encourage and maintain a sustainable, eco-friendly environment. It has occurred in the office, where computers have replaced most of the paperwork; in schools, where the interactive whiteboard and online learning portals have reduced the amount of paper distributed to students; and it has happened in the home, where database, word processing and spreadsheet software have replaced traditional budget books and hand-written letters. Now, through the use of GPS systems, the conventional map is determined to be replaced.
The function of the GPS system is to guide the driver from the leaving point to the destination point based on current location and destined location information provided by the user. Using this information, the GPS receiver (the device that sits on the dashboard in the vehicle) communicates with a variety of satellites in order to quickly determine the shortest path from the current location to the destined location via mathematical calculations, and presents this information to the driver. This path consists of the main A roads (in the UK, this is, for example, the A30 or A39), Motorways, B-roads, minor country roads and, as a lorry driver once told me, a battered old horse track!
A GPS is therefore far more effective at path determination than the average human being reading a conventional map: whilst the GPS receives, processes, calculates and present the information on screen within seconds, the average human being is still fumbling around trying to find that elusive road or landmark that fully completes the journey, assuming that the person doesn't require further detailed maps. Because of the quick path determination, for businesses this would be a more cost-effective and more productive way of, for example, delivering orders because the driver would not have to spend time pouring over maps if the person is unfamiliar with the road: the GPS would have completed that task for them within seconds. There is a problem though: it doesn't normally work in urban areas with very tall building, nor does it work in areas with tall trees.
Distance is the only variable that a GPS system use when calculating the shortest paths between the current and destined locations. Other variables such as the weather, vehicle weight, vehicle height, and vehicle type are not utilised; in other words, the GPS makes no distinction between a car and a 10 ton lorry, leading to a scenario where, for example, a huge delivery lorry is being told by the GPS to go down a steep, narrow country lane in wet weather. Users that are more familiar with the area may be able to quickly recognise a certain path as the least effective path, so might be able to change it if the particular GPS calculates selectable, multiple destination paths. For the majority of the time however, delivery drivers will simply find themselves completely stuck by the technology that is meant to help them.
It is unlikely that the GPS will be able to replace conventional maps. For the small family car, the fact that the GPS system works only with the current and destination location and calculates data using just the distance variable, it would be perfectly adequate. For the 10 ton lorry, a GPS could prove problematic. The only way this shortcoming can be overcome is to develop a GPS that has the software and capability to calculate the best, quickest path using a variety of other variables as mentioned earlier. Being able to program the software with more information shall prevent the aforementioned scenario with the lorry being told to go down a narrow country lane. Until then, users of small family cars might be interested in purchasing a GPS system should they travel by car a lot to places they do not know; users of vans and lorries are best with the conventional map.
Learn more about this author, Alexander Darracott.
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