A little time to BLOW OFF and VENT!! %$#* GPS

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Ok, I have been a "truck driver" for the past 19 years For me it's been the most exciting part of my life. How many out there have the all known and famous "Window with a view?" And if you have that "view" I bet it RARELY changes As a long haul trucker my window has shown my more views about this great land then most will EVER see.

When I started to drive back in the winter of 1991 Not a good year to learn how to use a stick shift and learn to drive in the snow(I grew up in S California) I also started to drive when there were NO CELL PHONES!! NO GPS!! Nothing more then are CB's, cassette's and using a road map.

There are too many of US out there driving while texting or using your laptop at a TV to watch movies or use your laptop to surf the web while driving!! Yet, driving and driving kills about as many people!

I have noticed here on the DIS a lot of people can't get around town with out it in there own towns they have lived in their whole lives This is funny and scary How many people use GPS to get them for home to WDW and you have made the trip sooooooo many times that GPS really doesn't help. Or are those of you out there that just plain get lost no matter what?

Don't they still teach kids to read a map anymore in schools or is "TEXTING" more important in school? (Not going to start this now)

We once were the smartest, brightest, best educated country. What happened? Did we forget that "working hard for a living is bad?"

Thank you for letting me vent about everything!!

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm going to guess that GPS units actually reduce accident rates. How many times do you see that out-of-towner swerve across three lanes of traffic because "That's my exit! Shoot!" With a GPS, you get plenty of notice, and current devices even tell you which lanes you need to be in well in advance. No surprises, no swerving, no cutting across lanes of traffic.

I can read a map. I was a Boy Scout, so actually I'm pretty good at it. You can still have my GPS when you pry it from my cold, dead hand.

Otherwise, I completely agree with you. There's no reason to text, surf, or watch movies while you drive. And, don't *fiddle* with your GPS while you are driving---set the route before you leave, and then keep your freakin' hands off it!

 

[shafke]

GPS has its uses. My wife had to drive with the kids out of state to a funeral. She plugged in the address into the GPS and was off. Was it necessary? No. The roads she took were all well traveled main roads but she never did the actual driving to this area. The GPS gave her piece of mind that she was on the right course.

The way I look at it GPS is really only good for the last 10-15 miles of a trip. Leaving your house and getting to the major roads should be no problem. It is only when you get to that last part of the trip where you are not familiar with the roads that you would need speific turn by turn directions.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

GPS has its uses. My wife had to drive with the kids out of state to a funeral. She plugged in the address into the GPS and was off. Was it necessary? No. The roads she took were all well traveled main roads but she never did the actual driving to this area. The GPS gave her piece of mind that she was on the right course.

The way I look at it GPS is really only good for the last 10-15 miles of a trip. Leaving your house and getting to the major roads should be no problem. It is only when you get to that last part of the trip where you are not familiar with the roads that you would need speific turn by turn directions.

When I was a kid, I used to go on road trips with my grandfather (Sir yes Sir) he would write down turn by turn directions and he and the person beside him would look at the directions and where they said to go. (he always trip planned everything) I guess we don't have time no more to look at the route your driving so "you" the driver of your family knows where you are going.

 

[kidd_freeper]

I just bought a GPS three weeks ago.

I bought it because I plan to drive through Wash DC on a holiday weekend.
The GPS has live traffic information and will re-route to avoid a traffic jam. But it also got me home from a recent ballgame quicker by avoiding a highway accident that had jammed up traffic.

It is also good for locating gas stations and off-highway restaurants.

No dumbing down here. I also have a road map, which I can read very well.

I also have a CB radio, but the language is wayyy too coarse for my children to hear.

 

[bumbershoot]

We once were the smartest, brightest, best educated country.

When exactly was that?



I've never known anyone to use a GPS to get around their own town. Guess we know different people.

And I don't particularly enjoy using them; highways are awfully well marked (though the difference in states and where they put their signs can flummox me) and I know very well that if you miss an exit you can generally find another to turn around from (though I might be one of the few that knows that). And a GPS unit is only as good as the software; my brother has a GPS unit and he hasn't updated the software...they've put a toll road in that bypasses a long stretch of road, but his old software doesn't have the toll road in it. So it's hilarious to have the GPS on as you get on the toll road, and hear the GPS lady quietly and sternly flip out b/c she thinks you're offroading. I enjoyed that when I took his car from his place south of San Diego up to Disneyland...ignored the thing entirely after that, as the highways are nicely marked, but it made for a good giggle!

 

[Magicbus]

You need to drive around WDW for a while. You hear that the worst drivers are from such and such a place. Well add WDW to that list. But if people use a GPS, it should help in reducing some of the really stupid stuff that goes on. GPS, it's a good thing.

 

[twinsplusone]

I know how to read a map. It was mandatory per my dad. Made me very nervous, but I learned. Now that I'm the grown up, I love our GPS. DH is the primary driver and knows where he is going every time we head out, but it is nice to know that our trusty GPS keeps us on track. This summer the kids and I may have to take our vacation without DH and you can bet that little bit of technology will be making the trek with us. We are going to the same area that we've vacationed for years, but I never drove and while I'm pretty sure I know exactly where I am going, it will give me peace of mind.

I do agree with no texting, playing with the GPS, movie watching, etc while you are driving.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

When exactly was that?



I've never known anyone to use a GPS to get around their own town. Guess we know different people.

And I don't particularly enjoy using them; highways are awfully well marked (though the difference in states and where they put their signs can flummox me) and I know very well that if you miss an exit you can generally find another to turn around from (though I might be one of the few that knows that). And a GPS unit is only as good as the software; my brother has a GPS unit and he hasn't updated the software...they've put a toll road in that bypasses a long stretch of road, but his old software doesn't have the toll road in it. So it's hilarious to have the GPS on as you get on the toll road, and hear the GPS lady quietly and sternly flip out b/c she thinks you're offroading. I enjoyed that when I took his car from his place south of San Diego up to Disneyland...ignored the thing entirely after that, as the highways are nicely marked, but it made for a good giggle!

The 1980's I think. Or at least the US had much more "common sense"

 

[skjuls]

I know how to read a map and I just bought a GPS, for the traffic updates since I live in DC and well the traffic is horrible up here.

I am still playing around with my GPS but probably will only use it in the places where I vacation.

OP, hello to you since you're from the Mount. My family lives there. Heck, my grandmother was born there and I graduated from BE.

 

[clkelley]

I have a GPS ( Ford Sync) built into my vehicle and I LOVE it. Yes, I know my way to WDW with my eyes closed, but I also have the traffic updates and weather radar!! I can reroute around traffic and weather easily, or can know how long I'm gonna be in the rain.

It is really nice to know how many miles to my destination and the estimated time of arrival.

Also, if I do need to run somewhere while at my destination, I can get there.

I do also use mine in my hometown on rare occasion if I'm going to a location in the downtown area. (I hate downtown and go there as little as possible, so don't have a good remembrance of where all the streets are and which ones are one-way, etc.)

I do most definitely read a map though. I travel frequently to places I've never been with my camper. My Sync will get me there, but it might not be the best road to travel on pulling a camper behind you, so I do study the map and the campsite website to make sure I'm taking a route that is safe.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

I know how to read a map and I just bought a GPS, for the traffic updates since I live in DC and well the traffic is horrible up here.

I am still playing around with my GPS but probably will only use it in the places where I vacation.

OP, hello to you since you're from the Mount. My family lives there. Heck, my grandmother was born there and I graduated from BE.

DD will be going to BE in the fall I get my traffic updates from all of the local AM radio station in the major towns. To each his/her own.

It's just my opinion that I think that "Technology" is dumbing people. They get "too dependent" on those items. College aged kids can't live without those items. (CNN study on Tech and college aged kids 18-24) I was scary cause it sounded more like addiction problems then it did anything else. when I was a kid the worst thing was maybe smoking Today it's getting carpel tunnel at age 16-17 from texting 6000+ messages a month.

These are just MY opinions. Try taking away all electronic items from your teenage kids and see how they "survive"

 

[skjuls]

They have plenty of traffic updates here on the radio but sometimes they're not that great and around here you need to know all the shortcuts to bypass them.

Mind you, I haven't used the GPS yet for that capacity. I have just been playing around with it and already put in points of interest while we're in Disney even though I already know how to get there.

I didn't need a Blackberry and I love it but I do use it too often...

LOL

I hear you, kids talk through text more than actually talking to each other.

 

[TheWog]

These are just MY opinions. Try taking away all electronic items from your teenage kids and see how they "survive"

Don't have a GPS. Don't need one. I know where I am going 99% of the time and if I don't I'll get the directions and figure it out with a map.

I wanted to comment on the quoted part. I just chaperoned DS's field trip. Several classmates told their teachers if they couldn't bring the cell phone/ipod/insert electrical device they wouldn't go on the trip. These items were forbidden and some of the kids actually didn't go, because of this. I found that ridiculous. The kids that did go left them behind and survived and many of them actually enjoyed themselves. I was still shocked that if they couldn't have it they wouldn't go. Are you serious? Oh well.

 

[Inkmahm]

Don't have a GPS. Don't need one. I know where I am going 99% of the time and if I don't I'll get the directions and figure it out with a map.

That's what I've always said,too. Then we planned a vacation to Southern California last August. We bought a GPS just for that. I've driven there before and remember trying to read a map and make sure I didn't miss exits while not killing us at the same time (DH can't read while driving or he gets sick so he is no help on maps.)

I liked having the GPS for giving directions and telling me how long it estimated it would take me to get someplace. I loved the GPS for being able to give me directions to grocery stores/restaurants, etc in the area.

I don't always agree with the route suggested so sometimes I go the way I think I should go and let the GPS "recalculate." It does give the long way to get someplace sometimes so then I go the obviously shorter route. I think it avoids left turns and tries to have you make only right turns. Just a guess.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

To the OP, but wouldn't you be lazy for relying on Maps, I mean, come on, you can use the stars to navigate. Each generation has an advancement that allows it to take on a new task or utility by offloading an existing one to an automation or simpler process.

 

[Inkmahm]

To the OP, but wouldn't you be lazy for relying on Maps, I mean, come on, you can use the stars to navigate. Each generation has an advancement that allows it to take on a new task or utility by offloading an existing one to an automation or simpler process.

Actually, I DO use the sun to help navigate. I may not know exactly where I am going but if I know what direction I need to go in, I'm fine on a good sunny day! I'll get there eventually just by following the direction I need based on the sun's position.