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| Yes | 51% | 350 votes | Total: 680 votes | |
| No | 49% | 330 votes |
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Add to FavoritesI believe that GPS has already replaced conventional maps. Seriously, have you tried to find a map recently, that was updated and had the latest new freeway on it? The most available map today is a 100 page book, that costs around forty dollars, approximately 16 inches long and 12 inches wide, with every state in the nation, some foreign countries and is marketed to truck drivers at every Flying J (no offense guys, but my jockey box isn't as big as your sleeper and I just can't find a place in my small car for a book that big).
Hmm, let me think about it, a GPS costs for a Garmin brand inexpensive model for example, around 100.00 at the Wal-mart,(sixty-nine on sale:) a big book around forty. GPS is cool and sticks in your window AND talks to you and tells you where to go (in the nicest of ways of course), gets you back on track if your lost.
Oh! Also it can save all your favorite locations, has a calculator, finds local establishments, gas stations, stores AND any address you type in. It has downloadable maps and specified maps if needed that you can purchase as well as double as a music player. It stays lit in the dark, without the use of a flash light and pages are turned in a sense with just one finger on a keypad.
Now, lets analyse the map, big, bulky, annoying without saying a thing (sounds like some people I know), kills trees because it is paper ( just to be fair I had to throw that in for the environmentalists) even if it didn't give one hundred kids in a factory a job. The map book does not fit in the jockey box, even the little maps don't any more because the jockey box has been reduced to a size only big enough to fit a newborn's shoes in.
You have to hold a flash light in your hand, or in my case my mouth, at night when your lost to read a map, and flip the pages or turn the map the right way just to read it. A map only shows you little picnic tables where you can eat food out in the wilderness, it doesn't show you where you can actually buy the food to eat though, or give you over 8,000 choices within a specified range to go buy something.
Let's see, oh yeah, it is NOT cool looking to have a map, and the map doesn't look cool either. Most of us nowadays have gotten so used to the GPS, deciphering a maps topographical information or any other information would be like translating hieroglyphics on a wall in a cave. Even serious hikers or outdoor fanatics have no need for maps, they get faded, wet, dirty or just way to bulky to pack around and unfold and read.
Why should they, when they can get a GPS, as big as a watch, or small cell phone, that has an arm band, belt band, hat band or any other band to attach to some safe place on your body, that can pinpoint right down to the last degree where they are going or are at any given moment.
I feel real bad having to be the one to break it to you little map, but you were replaced a couple of years ago, no one had the heart to tell you, so I get to be the bad guy. But HEY!, CHEER UP, there's always a job opening for maps at the library of history or vintage geographical resource centers, or mabey you will get lucky and someone years down the road, will use you to hide a hidden treasure. At which point, centuries later, with your old directions and a GPS, we ought to be able to find just what was hidden.
Learn more about this author, Blaize Shepherd.
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No
Are maps going the way of the buggy whip? In teaching career units, I showed a movie promoting the need to research career choices. It emphasized the need to prepare for a field with a future, so the students' skills would not become extinct like those of the buggy whip maker after the advent of cars.
Individuals relate to our world in different ways. They may be oral learners, visual learners, tactile/hands-on learners. A GPS (Global Positioning System) meets all these learning styles. It speaks to us, shows us pictures, and allows us to manipulate information by the touch of a screen. I am a visual person and the trip guides provided by my auto club were a big draw for renewing my membership every year. I liked to flip the pages of those spiral bound books as the miles fell behind us. I was my husband's GPS.
My own first travel experience with the GPS was worth its cost for the peace of mind it provided. Returning to Detroit, Michigan's large ariport, I was unfamiliar with the route and feared getting lost. My fear was not unfounded. It was a very dark night to be maneuvering the highways back to the airport alone. My Garmin GPS took me there without a glitch, through lane changes and highway exchanges to the car rental return lot. Considering my anxiety and unfamiliarity of the metropolitan area, I would have been a sobbing, emotional wreck before reaching the lot. if not for my GPS. I had experienced such a time, before the advent of the GPS, when I was following directions on how to get to my husband's work site. I could see the landmark where I was to turn off, but there was construction between the turn off and me. I turned around umpteen times. I was tired. I was stressed. I finally got off the interstate to ask directions, miles past my destination. You can probably relate a few of your own harrowing experiences when you would have loved having this new GPS technology at your fingertips.
Will the GPS make paper maps go the way of the buggy whip? I believe the GPS will become as popular as the cell phone, some of which already have mapping capabilities. I know that there will always be those people who will prefer to use maps. They like the familiar, non-threatening ease of unfolding a map and finding their way among the array of colored lines. However, if you are considering the purchase of a GPS, consider the many advantages over using conventional maps.
Spoken Directions:
GPS's talk to you so you can keep your eyes on the road. You can listen while driving and not have to pull over in the dark to view your map or ask directions of a stranger. Maps are great if you have another person to read and be your navigator. If not, it presents a safety problem. Your choices are to unfold, twist and turn the map, turn on the overhead light and take your eyes off the road repeatedly to find and keep your place on the map; or pull over in an unfamiliar area.
Announces Wrong Turns:
GPS's correct you if you've made a wrong turn. If the driver accidently passes the directed turn, or decides to take a side trip through the fast food restaurant, the GPS will recalculate and get you back on track. How convenient it would have been if I had been warned on a pre-GPS trip to Texas from Florida. My husband was sleeping, and I followed the wrong route, taking us a circuitous three hours off track.
Advance Turn and Lane Announcements:
GPS's give you advance directions and identify which highway lane to stay in for the approaching turn-off. Some GPS's provide greater time allowance than others and will state directives more than once. For this reason, it's advantageous to read reviews and ask your friends and family of their experiences with their chosen GPS.
Locates Nearby Emergency and Recreational Sites:
GPS's have special features like identifying the location of hospitals, police, recreation, restaurants, and lodging. Life is often hectic and demanding. Even our vacations can be challenging with all the planning and arrangements. The ability to locate and get directions to nearby restaurants, lodging, and recreation helps make the trip smooth and manageable. The advantage of being able to identify the nearest hospital or police department is obvious. Accidents happen.
Variety of Voices and Map Styles:
GPS's can provide security in the form of a calm voice and pictured maps. You can select whether you want to hear the GPS voice in higher pitched female tones; or in a lower male pitched tone. An extra feature on some GPS's is to provide real-time traffic information to warn you of traffic congestion, accidents, road construction, and provide you an alternate route.
Compact Ease:
Lastly, you need only one GPS, not an assortment of maps. This is both a clutter-control plus for you, and a conservation of paper, thus trees, in our growing green consciousness.
Although ideally used for traveling new routes, it is equally beneficial when needing to find yourself around any city. The internet provided me with a list of stores offering the backpack my granddaughter wanted for her birthday. I used the touch screen to input the closest address. My GPS determined the route and gave spoken, turn-by-turn directions, displaying my little car in route to the particular store. Another plus, press home' and the device directs you back there from your current position. There are many GPS products to meet different needs and budgets. You'll find many magazines and websites with purchase guides. Do your homework and you'll find your GPS user-friendly.
I doubt paper maps will become extinct like the buggy whip; and cartographers' jobs will not go the way of the buggy whip maker. However, just as the subjects I taught in the 90s-shorthand and typing-are now key stroking skills and word processing; mapping, too, will continue to be impacted by developing technology.
Learn more about this author, Cheryl Abney.
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