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Old Farts and Technology: The GPS

Started by SGOS, February 23, 2017, 06:35:21 AM

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Baruch

Quote from: Johan on February 25, 2017, 01:16:39 PM
Lets be fair here. A paper map would have yielded the same result in that situation if not worse unless it had been updated and released in the previous month.

But people trust Seri more than their own spouse ;-)  Maps not so much.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Hydra009

Quote from: Johan on February 25, 2017, 01:16:39 PMLets be fair here. A paper map would have yielded the same result in that situation if not worse unless it had been updated and released in the previous month.
Yep.  Same with my story.

The moral of the story isn't that some other technology is superior or that GPS shouldn't be trusted at all, it's that GPS is an imperfect technology that shouldn't be blindly obeyed.  People should be aware of their surroundings in addition to using a GPS.  The two should work in tandem - one can't fully replace the other.

At least not until the technology is so advanced that people can literally fall asleep at the wheel and the car drives itself as well (if not better) than a human driver.

Johan

Quote from: Hydra009 on February 25, 2017, 01:39:30 PM

At least not until the technology is so advanced that people can literally fall asleep at the wheel and the car drives itself as well (if not better) than a human driver.
I eagerly await that day. I work in trucking and frankly, I look forward to the day when truck drivers no longer have to actually drive the trucks.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false and by the rulers as useful

SGOS

Quote from: Johan on February 25, 2017, 01:16:39 PM
Lets be fair here. A paper map would have yielded the same result in that situation if not worse unless it had been updated and released in the previous month.
There would not have been updated maps, and if they had them, they would have been only partially functional.  I would guess that 1/4 of the on/off ramps in the exchange were barricaded and unusable, although they looked like they were new construction.  Had I actually been able to find my way, the place would have still seemed surreal, like something out of a dystopian future movie.

Baruch

Quote from: Johan on February 25, 2017, 02:00:11 PM
I eagerly await that day. I work in trucking and frankly, I look forward to the day when truck drivers no longer have to actually drive the trucks.

That will only happen because there is no more gas, and truckers have to find other jobs.  Without trucks, we all have to cluster around railway sidings, like we did before 1920.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

#35
Quote from: SGOS on February 25, 2017, 02:26:45 PM
There would not have been updated maps, and if they had them, they would have been only partially functional.  I would guess that 1/4 of the on/off ramps in the exchange were barricaded and unusable, although they looked like they were new construction.  Had I actually been able to find my way, the place would have still seemed surreal, like something out of a dystopian future movie.

Yes, sometimes I think highway engineers are sadists.  We have exchange ramps in Tulsa, where you can exit to the right into slower traffic (the right way of course), or to the left into faster traffic (favored by SJWs) .. if you are in the middle lane, you are screwed (like in politics).
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

Quote from: Hydra009 on February 25, 2017, 01:39:30 PM
Yep.  Same with my story.

The moral of the story isn't that some other technology is superior or that GPS shouldn't be trusted at all, it's that GPS is an imperfect technology that shouldn't be blindly obeyed.  People should be aware of their surroundings in addition to using a GPS.  The two should work in tandem - one can't fully replace the other.

At least not until the technology is so advanced that people can literally fall asleep at the wheel and the car drives itself as well (if not better) than a human driver.

Unfortunately, falling asleep at the wheel isn't good for train or tram drivers yet ;-(  And they are on a fixed track.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Funny GPS story.  I used it to find some lots I was considering building a house on.  It got me off on a side road to nowhere.  At the end of it was a guy with a gun.  I backed up REAL slow...
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Quote from: Cavebear on February 26, 2017, 11:17:23 AM
Funny GPS story.  I used it to find some lots I was considering building a house on.  It got me off on a side road to nowhere.  At the end of it was a guy with a gun.  I backed up REAL slow...

Good thing you didn't hear banjo music, or you might have made a nice little wife for Jethro ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Quote from: Baruch on February 26, 2017, 12:12:58 PM
Good thing you didn't hear banjo music, or you might have made a nice little wife for Jethro ;-)

Well I DID have a MUCH bigger car...  Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.  To coin a phrase...  An SUV has value too.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Quote from: Cavebear on February 26, 2017, 12:29:29 PM
Well I DID have a MUCH bigger car...  Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.  To coin a phrase...  An SUV has value too.

Good thing the gentleman didn't have the General Lee, otherwise the Dukes of Hazard would have caught up to you ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Quote from: Baruch on February 26, 2017, 08:42:23 PM
Good thing the gentleman didn't have the General Lee, otherwise the Dukes of Hazard would have caught up to you ;-)

Well, as I said, I backed away...  No need to cause a fight where one isn't needed.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

etienne

#42
I'm "old".  I f'ing HATE GPS and GPSers!  I get in a car with a GPSer and half the time we end up way the F out of town, hol' up in some cow pie pastures and such.  Whatever happened to BRAINS, as in, the human BRAIN?  Do we hate the human brain that much now in this world of "hi tech progress"?  It appears so to me.  I like these thing they call "MAPS", on PAPER, old school, analog, scribed by these things called "cartographers", who have human BRAINS and skill.  They are pieces of artwork, many of them, and I like art.

I take this "map" in my human hands, and study the route upon which I will sojourn.  I use my human BRAIN to memorize said route.  Then I go.  AND, if I happen to briefly forget my way, I stop, and review the MAP.  I like life this way, I like maps, I like brains, but I also HATE ROBOTS and strive to kill them in the 1st degree whenever possible--i premeditate as such.  Don't even get me started on robots.  Best way to murder a robot is to walk up and kindly offer it a glass of water.  ZING and ZAP! 

Water is the best thing on the planet next to air(sunshine is a close 3rd), but I am biased.  It's WAY better than GPS(which I hate, did I mention that?).
The Revolution does not fall like an apple when it is ripe:  you have to MAKE it fall...

Cavebear

Quote from: etienne on March 14, 2017, 09:45:10 AM
I'm "old".  I f'ing HATE GPS and GPSers!  I get in a car with a GPSer and half the time we end up way the F out of town, hol' up in some cow pie pastures and such.  Whatever happened to BRAINS, as in, the human BRAIN.  Do we hate the human grain that much now in this world of "hi tech progress"?  It appears so to me.  I like these thing they call "MAPS", on PAPER, old school, analog, scribed by these things called "cartographers", who have human BRAINS and skill.  They are pieces of artwork, many of them, and I like art.

I take this "map" in my human hands, and study the route upon which I will sojourn.  I use my human BRAIN to memorize said route.  Then I go.  AND, if I happen to briefly forget my way, I stop, and review the MAP.  I like life this way, I like maps, I like brains, but I also HATE ROBOTS and strive to kill them whenever possible--i premeditate as such.  Don't even get me started on robots.  Best way to murder a robot is to walk up and kindly offer it a glass of water.  ZING and ZAP! 

Water is the best thing on the planet next to air(sunshine is a close 3rd), but I am biased.  It's WAY better than GPS(which I hate, did I mention that?).

I work by maps myself.  I have a GPS but I seldom use it.  It confuses my sense of direction.
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

SGOS

Quote from: etienne on March 14, 2017, 09:45:10 AM
I'm "old".  I f'ing HATE GPS and GPSers!  I get in a car with a GPSer and half the time we end up way the F out of town, hol' up in some cow pie pastures and such.  Whatever happened to BRAINS, as in, the human BRAIN?  Do we hate the human brain that much now in this world of "hi tech progress"?  It appears so to me.  I like these thing they call "MAPS", on PAPER, old school, analog, scribed by these things called "cartographers", who have human BRAINS and skill.  They are pieces of artwork, many of them, and I like art.

I take this "map" in my human hands, and study the route upon which I will sojourn.  I use my human BRAIN to memorize said route.  Then I go.  AND, if I happen to briefly forget my way, I stop, and review the MAP.  I like life this way, I like maps, I like brains, but I also HATE ROBOTS and strive to kill them whenever possible--i premeditate as such.  Don't even get me started on robots.  Best way to murder a robot is to walk up and kindly offer it a glass of water.  ZING and ZAP! 

Water is the best thing on the planet next to air(sunshine is a close 3rd), but I am biased.  It's WAY better than GPS(which I hate, did I mention that?).
Hmmm. How provincial!