It's Friday night. You are driving down the freeway. An eerie glow is billowing from the front seat area of the vehicle in front of you. You wonder: is it an alien take-over? Wizardry? Or are they the queen/king of the woodland creatures?
As you get closer the car in front of you veers off onto the exit ahead, you pass and look over to see a little glowing screen.
Luckily, the world is still safe and you sigh with relief. Wait. What was that screen? Were they watching TV? You overheard a woman’s voice telling the driver to take that right, but there was only one person in the vehicle (and it looked like a man). Now you are even more perplexed. I am about to help your perplexities.
GPS is an acronym for Global Position System. These little contraptions are the maps of the future, and car manufactures all over the world are adding these devices as add-on options. A GPS helps lost people be found. As for myself, I use one quite frequently driving all over the Twin cities (it can be a challenge to find the nearest java stop).
An average GPS consists of a little LCD(Liquid Crystal Display, digital watches are made of the same technology)touch screen usually three to five inches. They receive their location by up to 24 orbiting satellites.
This satellite system was initially used by the United States government, but in the early 1980s they let normal people like me and you start to use them. Most GPS devices are accurate to 15 meters or less (*1). Along with the LCD screen most GPS devices have a speaker for audio alerts for the driver. This can help with accident reduction since the driver does not have to visually look to the GPS. It just says where to go (usually nagging you very very much).
As with all electronics, the GPS systems are getting to the price range that everyone can have one. Verizon and Sprint cell phone carriers have the GPS device technology built right into their phones!
These devices are of great help for the guy or girl in your life that does not like taking directions from you, although they would love the little glowing alien screen talking to them and telling them where they are ... I think.
Submitted by markaweber on April 25, 2007 - 9:51am.
Thank-you for the background on GPS devices.
I received one as a gift a couple of years ago because I had expressed an interest in geocaching -- the sport of finding hidden "treasure" using only a set of coordinates you plug into your handheld GPS device.
Unfortunately, I was pretty much psyched out by the device and all that it can do.
Proving once again, I believe, that manufacturers can outsmart themselves by not making "user-friendly" their top priority.
Then again, maybe it's true that you can't teach an "old dog" new tricks.
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Thank-you for the background
Thank-you for the background on GPS devices.
I received one as a gift a couple of years ago because I had expressed an interest in geocaching -- the sport of finding hidden "treasure" using only a set of coordinates you plug into your handheld GPS device.
Unfortunately, I was pretty much psyched out by the device and all that it can do.
Proving once again, I believe, that manufacturers can outsmart themselves by not making "user-friendly" their top priority.
Then again, maybe it's true that you can't teach an "old dog" new tricks.
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