yes, I'm an old relic who should embrace the new century

[deird1]

Am I the only person left in the world who prefers physical maps to GPS?

Went to a friend's house the other day, and discovered that my Melways (standard Melbourne roadmap) is out of date and doesn't have her street. I mentioned this to a few people - and they all looked puzzled and asked "But... don't you have a GPS?"

Yes. Yes I do have a GPS. And, thanks to my silly Melways, I had to pull out my GPS, dust off the cobwebs, find her street, and trust my GPS to guide me there while I blindly submitted to its knowledge, rather than knowing where the heck I was going.

Call me crazy, but I think there's something to be said for looking at a big piece of paper, and thinking "I am HERE, and I want to be THERE." It makes me feel much more in control. Especially since my GPS has been known to randomly go insane and decide I should be driving down a gravel farm track rather than the freeway.

Comments

[megpie71]

I've found a reasonable compromise between my preference for looking things up on a map (and trusting to my own knowledge of the best ways to get from A to B) and the cost of updating a street directory on a regular basis (which is getting prohibitive now we're on the dole pretty much constantly) in Google Maps. If I have to go somewhere I haven't been, I'll look it up on Google and find out how to get there according to their directions, and then scribble them down with the necessary degree of detail on a piece of paper I can have with me in the car if my memory needs jogging.

[smurasaki]

I've always preferred maps to directions, so I have no real interest in GPS. I do use Google maps more than physical maps, both because it's convenient and because street view gives me even more confidence that I can get from where I am to where I'm going.

I'm sure GPS is terribly useful, but I like to KNOW where I'm going. And I've always been very comfortable with maps.

[luscious_purple]

I love maps. I enjoy plotting out my overall route on paper maps or an atlas of maps, or looking things up on Google Maps. However, I do appreciate the GPS's ability to give directions aloud, so that I don't have to take my eyes off the road as often.

(And, yes, of course, occasionally the GPS *has* taken me down some weird route into the middle of nowhere.)

[petzipellepingo]

Nope, I pull out the atlas all the time to look something up.

[spikereader]

I much prefer a proper map, I never use the Sat Nav in the car, much prefer to work out a route and write myself a list of pertinent points to look out for. I will admit to using Google Maps on the computer to do that if I don't have a map available.

[slaymesoftly]

I much prefer to have a real map. I'll use a GPS if necessary when I get close to where I'm going, but I want to know before I get there where it is in relation to other places. I think people who lack a good sense of direction, prefer to be told where to go, but I want to have an overview of the whole thing so I can make an informed decision about following a GPS.

Laney says

[(Anonymous)]

I love Google maps because it can inform me of stuff while I'm looking at the road, so I generally don't have to pull over, work out where the heck I am, and work out how the heck to get back on the route I was theoretically trying to follow before I missed my turnoff because I had no chance to check the map without leaving the aforementioned route.
The one I miss, however, was the GPS in Matt's old car, because it had a handy zooming in-and-out function that meant I could fiddle away with it while on three-day-long journeys and check how many towns were coming up and where we could stop for lunch. GMaps isn't quite as handy in that tespect - it kinda works, but it's not as much fun.