Dynamic Yet Consistent

The other day I took most of my birthday money and bought a new GPS (I say new, because I already have a 10 year old hand held backpacking model).  I have been researching then for a while and was looking for something I could use here and in Swaziland.  I ended up getting a great deal at Best Buy on a Tomtom XL 340 and so far have been pretty happy with my purchase.

It does some pretty snazzy stuff.  It has lane guidance so you know how to navigate interstate transitions.  It has a huge number of pre programmed points of interest.  It calculates trip time on the fly based on actually average speeds for each road.  It has audible turn by turn directions.  It was great this week for our trip down to Tallahassee.  You could take backroads without having to worry about watch road signs.  It was easy to find out what sort of amenities were at each stop.  It allowed us to take a few shortcuts on our way down.

As nice as it has been, I have some misgivings about the thing.  You see, I am generally pretty good with directions.  I can glance at a map and be able to get around a city with relative ease.  I am good at being able to keep my bearings and guess which road to take if our trip takes an unexpected route.  I am great at reading a map and being able to plan a trip.  The problem is, when you have a GPS that does it all, those skills are not only unnecessary, they are actually diminished.

On this most recent trip, despite knowing my latitude and longitude down to a few feet, there were many times when I did not know where I was.  Because I no longer needed to plan my route or keep up with roads I was passing, I found I was not as well acquainted with the city or how road systems ran together.  It was easy for me to the closest Zaxby’s, but if someone asked me how to get there later, there is no way I could have told them without relying on th GPS.

Perhaps I am just being sensitive because previously my map and directions skills were valued and recognized and now anyone with $100 can look like Magellan; but, I think there is something more to it.  Simply put, I think a GPS like my Tomtom is great for getting around, but is horrible for knowing where you are.

Then again, maybe I am just a luddite.  I am sure I would probably decry the advent of the calculator as being the end of our math skills.  At the end of the day, while I appreciate its convenience, I would never trade my skills and experience.