The Great GPS Dilemma
Feb 20
I’ve faced plenty of tech dilemmas in recent years: whether to go over to the Apple camp; which of the photo developing sites to use (I’m still going with dirt cheap Snapfish); and whether to switch over from Yahoo Mail to Gmail (right now, I’m still with Yahoo, but this incredibly cool new Gmail chat function has me reconsidering). But the one Hamlet-caliber conundrum that’s been bugging me for almost a year now is GPS navigation systems.
I have Andy to thank for getting me hooked on TomTom, the GPS software that gives you a 3-D, Outrun-like visual of the road you’re driving on, plus flashing arrows and sultry electronic voices to tell you where to turn. Andy turned me onto it with a jerry-rigged setup in his car, where his iPaq functioned as the screen, and the GPS signal came via a hardwired little pod. Later in the summer, Andy switched over to a Treo and bluetooth GPS, which looked really cool but had one unintended side-effect: any telephone call threw the phone completely out of GPS sync.
Ever since those first glimpses of auto-navigation heaven, I’ve been pining for a GPS. Every time I get lost in Putnam County — which is, oh, every time I visit Putnam County — I think how much better my life would be if I was GPS enabled.
The only problem is price. I’m just too damn cheap to fork over the $600-$1,000 for a stand-alone TomTom device. For me, the proper price point would be about $200, or the cost of an iPod. Still, even if I go for a more complicated, Diller-esque setup, the individual components add up fast. $300 Treo with Verizon plan + $250 for TomTom GPS bundle = $550. Even the used Treos on eBay and craigslist don’t come cheap. 
The Palm Tungsten E2 Navigation pack is a much bigger bargain at $400, but you don’t even get a phone out of the deal. 
To complicate matters further, Verizon just announced the VZ Navigator Motorola V325 phone, which has everything in a nice tidy package, but it looks awfully stripped down. None of that TomTom 3D goodness.
Still, at $80 (if I renew for 2 yrs) this is the only one that matches my price point. But is it worth pulling the trigger? If I wait another few months, will Apple finally come out with the Gen8 iPod, complete with GPS and Hologram functionality?
Oh oh, watch out!
[link]
In-car navigation systems can be dangerous, report warns
Don’t touch that dial (while driving), says Privilege Insurance…..
From that report:
“Nearly one in eight did not even bother to check out a route they were unfamiliar with and simply relied on the technology to get them to their destination.”
This is me 100%– Katie says I’m an idiot cause I’m not using my brain anymore and if the GPS cuts out for some reason, in the middle of the trip, we are totally lost. However, my Treo: keeps my contacts, my appointments (and beeps at me), all my email, my phone calls and tell me where to drive. And I like following its voice around town and thru the country.
But come on, that NEVER HAPPENS. At least, if it does, I can fix it.
One in eight relied on the GPS and didn’t check the route? I’m amazed it wasn’t one in eight who did check the route. It’s like remembering phone numbers in the mobile phone age.
I have always been in dire need of a GPS. I even imagined having something like it in the mid-80s, back when it would have been a national-security breach if I knew what the technology was. Especially since I was maybe 7 years old. Luckily, I’m stuck with public transit for the next few years and can sit out the price decrease.