by T. Scott Randolph

Created on: January 05, 2010

If you want to split hairs with this question, technically the Global Positioning Systems already have replaced maps. Many people can't read a map, but they have no problem listening to voice coming from the little box on the dashboard of their car. Will GPS ever completely replace maps? That answer is a definite no.

GPS devices rely on too much technology. Traditional maps rely on someone being their before, and mapping what they saw. Of course now we use the same technology to get our maps, but that is another story. The point is technology fails. It wears out, breaks down, gets destroyed, and in our current world troubles, use some form of energy to function.

In order for a GPS device to work, in layman's terms, you have to have your position triangulated. What this means is, if I tell you that a house is somewhere along a single line, that narrows the field but still leaves a lot of area to cover. If I give you another line that crosses the first line and tell you that is where the house is located, then you will have a more exact point. Now if we give you a third line that intersects at the same point (hence the term triangulate) you have a positive location. The more satellites you have, the more accurate you will be. The point to all this, is that it is a great system that works well. It works as long as you have satellites operating in orbit correctly.

This is the part were the technology failing comes in. There are so many dangers to what amounts to a very fragile piece of hardware rocketing through space. Radiation from a solar flare can cause the same kind of effect like the EMP from a nuclear explosion. Of course their are safeguards in place, but like all things, they can fail. As we speak there are literally thousands of failed satellites, garbage, nuts, bolts, tools, you name it orbiting the earth. Eventually they will fall out of orbit, but it takes time. When a small bolt that got away from an astronaut repairing one of The Weather Channel's satellite, crashes into one of the satellites that the GPS is using at a couple thousand miles an hour, you have a problem.

While it doesn't get a lot of attention, you also have satellites that are of a military nature that are armed and designed to destroy other satellites. This means if we are at war with a nation that has this capability, it would be possible to disrupt most communication, the all important TV, as well as the GPS technology. All this rambling amounts to this. Satellites, even though well designed, are very vulnerable to the harsh environment of space.

So basically, while the GPS equipment is very helpful, it is fallible. Think of it like this, if your power goes out, your flashlight batteries may die but you can always relight a candle. That is a great analogy for the map versus GPS. Your batteries die, your done. You can always look at the map again.

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