I loved the Perdue ads growing up, but sadly this one’s gone off-topic as well. Any other thoughts on GPS vs. maps?
Yeah, I gave all my GPS units away about 1 week after getting my first smart phone. What’s that, like 10 years ago now?
No paper map can compete with the ability to switch from road map to satellite image to street view.
Wes, you mentioned using a map to find fishing spots. At the risk of giving up my advantage, let me tell you nothing compares to a smart phone for that purpose. Three of my absolute best fishing launch spots were discovered using a combination of road, satellite and street views on a smart phone. Map view, road comes close to water? switch to satellite view and zoom in. Looky here! a gravel patch that looks like an undocumented access point. Street view shows it is not some guys yard but a open spot for launching. I can even gauge the depth of the water and if it is a clear spot using satellite views…try that with a paper map.
Like to wander about seeing new sights? You can actually do that with maps on a smart phone- spend your time looking around and seeing the sights rather than pulling over to check your map. Done wandering and want to go home? Push one button and it guides you back.
Wonder what that tricky intersection really looks like from the driver’s seat? You can do that with street view…
Geez, I’ve been driving around for awhile and getting hungry, how about something to gnosh on…google local restaurants by type of food, poke on phone number to call or just poke address to navigate via voice instructions. Yeah, that stinks compared to a paper map.
The list goes on and on. At some point, the naysayers will ditch their bearskin hides and stone knives and figure out what they have been missing…the weather is nice when you come out of the cave 
it takes a tough moderator to police a tender thread? 
Like to wander about seeing new sights? You can actually do that with maps on a smart phone- spend your time looking around and seeing the sights rather than pulling over to check your map. Done wandering and want to go home? Push one button and it guides you back.
At the club I work out at…they have a new tread-mill - with a TV monitor in front of you. You select one of the 100 or so running/walking courses from around the world…and that start your workout…as you’re running/walking the area you choose is displayed on the monitor. Could be Paris, NYC, London…etc…etc. It moves to the speed you’re moving…and if it looks like you’re running up-hill…then the tread mill raises to simulate a hill climb. You get the opportunity to run or walk selected area’s around the world.
Mike, that sounds pretty cool! Certainly would make the time go by more quickly than staring at a wall or out a window. Pretty nice on those snowy winter days too, ah Paris in the springtime…
With nothing but a trucker’s atlas or a set of maps, it’s so easy to get lost that I stick to the interstate highways and main roads. With a GPS, I have the freedom to take the back roads through more pastoral parts of the country, avoiding toll roads and enjoying the scenery.
Having GPS also makes it easier to keep my eyes on the road. I don’t even use the screen for GPS. I just set my destination, turn off the screen, and listen to the instructions.
^
I have the same philosophy and use the same approach as Whitey, but before beginning my trip I orient myself by using a conventional paper map. After that orientation, then it is modern technology all the way.
I guess I m weird. I like to get a little lost, in rural areas anyway. its fun.
that thing about the treadmill is cool. I do the same thing on google earth. its just like you are walking or driving around almost anywhere on earth that there are roads. you can stop and look all around. even look up or down at the scenery.
I don t look at maps while driving. if I m heading some where I just write down the road names and numbers I want to take and have it handy to refer to. or let my passenger hold the list of turns and roads. often I take the highway on my way to somewhere for an appointment or outing. then on the way home, if I don t have a schedule to keep, I ll just head for the rural areas and see what happens. I just use the sun as a guide and have even looked at moss on trees to find north. you need plenty of gas tho, because sometimes you do get off track and head miles in the wrong direction
I think I understand. You like to go exploring. However, wouldn’t you enjoy it a little more if you knew you could push a button and immediately find your way home? Wouldn’t you be a little more apt to explore with reckless abandon with that reassurance?
no. the thrill would not be quite the same. I mean come on, I m not sure how old you are, but I grew up without cellphones and computers. every one seemed to make out ok. we have really only had these things since the 80 s and it has only been since 2000 when cellphones were rarely had by people. gps came to the masses even later. people had driven for a long time, without either.
Just remember that you are not only the see-er but the see-ee. My BIL remarked that in one of the map views, he could see right into the window of the cabin and identify who it was.
yeah, I m not a fan of constant surveillance but I don t mind google earth. its just one moment in time. hopefully not a bad one…
I saw this and it reminded me of this thread.
i just saw your post @Twin Turbo, i like it thanks that is a great idea. we went crabbing today and the state had closed down the area due to people leaving trash (don t get me started!) we were able to find a new spot nearby without a map at all, but your point is valid.
Just came back from Pittsburgh - that’s a place I was happy to have GPS with voice turn-by-turn! I’ve never been in a more confusing city, road-wise. A paper map would have done me little good.
If you think Pittsburgh is bad, you should try Newark, NJ.
I always thought it was funny that I couldn’t get the trucking company to send me to South Florida because it was a “high crime” area, but they’d send me to Northern New Jersey twice a week if I let them. Every time I drove a truck into New Jersey, I got lost. I’d thought about getting a GPS back then, but they were so unsophisticated that I thought they might send me on a route where my 13" clearance might be an issue.
Wilmington Delaware is a nightmare too. you could have had a map, a gps, goggle earth and a psychic. you still would not have been able to cross 8 lanes of traffic to make the next turn
Haven’t been to Pittsburgh but…Portland Oregon was an amazing mess !
You could see your destination …right over there…
but
You CAN’T get there from here !
The ol’ paper map was an absolute necessity for any semblence of which route would actually end up there.
Hee hee Whitey. How did people communicate before facebook, before email, before telephones, Um mail?
My BIL used to drive and would tell about guys going into NJ (don’t remember what parts), but if you ever stopped the truck, guys would be opening up the trailer doors and throwing stuff out. Wild west indeed.
Nothing beats DC for confusing roads. It was designed after the War of 1812. The British army burned several government buildings down after an easy trip into town. Circles with radiating roads were put in to make it difficult for an invader to move their wagons at any decent rate of speed. They had to go around the circle and then figure out which road was the one they wanted to exit on. These days, the issue is the same whether you drive a wagon, sedan, or SUV.