Well I finally started drinking the GPS Kool-Aid the other day. We got our tax rebate check and I decided to purchase a nice, but not top of the line Garmin nuvi on sale at Best Buy.
And I must say that in the brief period of time I have owned it, I am getting a kick out of it! I only wish we had it on our 2 trips to Arkansas. There is hardly a straight path anywhere with many doglegs, road unions and divisions, turns, spurs, business routes, etc., in the backwoods. I am sure for the folks that live there it is as easy as the back of your hand, but for a “foreigner” it can be a challenge.
I like using it (for the moment) on routes that I normally drive. It is curious that I don’t always take the shortest route. I am not sure of the algorithm, but I am guessing that it the primarily goal with a GPS (as opposed to minimizing time). A friend told me some good advice: you drive the GPS; don’t let it drive you. And that is true; you can ignore its suggestions, and it will pause for a moment, then say, “Recalculating.”. Then, POOF, a different route (sometimes a U-turn!) appears.
This is really an amazing device. My dad, were he living still, would have been amazed and nearly creeped out at this thing. I can just imagine him getting a laugh each time the GPS tells you how to go here or there. That was just dad. The creeped out part would be from the fact that you have a wireless device instantly report your position AND plan a route to go somewhere, estimate the TOA, and take you pretty much anywhere in the US, if you so desired.
That being said, it is safe to say that I am a big fan. I can’t wait to try it in the land of crooked roads of AR!
