by Kenneth O'Mally

Created on: November 25, 2008   Last Updated: March 11, 2010

When 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.

Technology 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.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.