The Times recently conducted a trial wherein they compared the effectiveness of an in-car GPS-based navigation system,with more conventional methods of getting around. They asked three drivers in 3 cars to make their way from The Times’ head office in Wapping, London to Fletching in East Sussex, a distance of about 58 miles, solely by means of a Navman iCN 720 GPS navigation system or by asking directions from strangers or by relying on traditional paper maps.
The results were both predictable and surprising. The car equipped with the GPS device won handily. However, the driver with the paper map lost out to the driver who stopped to ask locals for directions to Fletching. While the GPS system was deemed beneficial in that it afforded the driver an opportunity to enjoy the drive more, it also was felt to induce a kind of tunnel vision through the loss of the ‘big picture’ provided by those large fold-out maps.
Although Internet-based maps and directions were omitted from the test, it might have been interesting to see how they stacked up to regular paper maps.
Er, is this the way to Amarillo? – London Times, July 04, 2006
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My wife wouldn’t be surprised at all that the person who stopped and got directions beat the person with the paper map.
With GPS use so widespread, do people ever stop and ask for directions anymore?