Even when I know exactly how to get where I’m going, I love the way a GPS gives me a running estimated time of arrival, I can phone my wife and let her know exactly when to expect me.
It’s also nice to always know exactly how many more miles your exit is away.
I have used it to find a place to eat more than once.
Yea, I could live without it, just like I could live without a clock in the dash.
I guess the GPS manufacturers have been quite adept at recognizing their market and building a format and interface that is quickly accepted by their target market. I have ridden with a few young (under 40) drivers, who feel somewhat anxious if there is no GPS screen to check. Personally, the interchange list would be the most important information from the GPS. The moving dot is an annoying distraction and the voice giving countdowns to turns is totally outrageous. But obviously they don’t see me as part of their target market.
I always turn the voice off.
@Twinturbo
So in five years if I still want to copy CDs and DVDs, use a word processor with a full size key board, edit my music and photos, , add on another HD, I know I can do all hat with a lap top…but no where near as seamless as with a dedicated, stationary computer. Sure, Lap tops are small, but so aren’t desktops. So compared with a laptop, it’s a lose call. But compared with a smart phone…I would gladly take that bet.
The Microsoft Surface is where it’s at for the future. Touch screen, near full size, key board, compact and power .
I can’t imagine tolerating a keyboard w/o tactile feedback very well.
CDs??
Even DVDs are already on a rapid extinction path. Those drives aren’t offered on many new systems already. You can buy an external drive so you can cling to outdated hardware formats. Most people are moving on…
OK, I have a bit more time so thought I’d elaborate.
I’m not exactly on the bleeding edge but I gave up those hardware formats long ago.
I have my entire video and audio collections on a terabyte drives that I can plug directly into my TV or other devices. Drives fit in your shirt pocket. My TV is also wireless internet and accepts streaming video from all the major players including Amazon Prime. The Prime feed also comes into iPad and phone. My 2.5 year old already knows how to access streaming video from Prime, Xfinity, DisneyJr app and stored videos on the devices.
Storing video or audio on discs is dead. The only viable format left is Blu-Ray and that is on the way out too. I also have some high capacity Flash drives that have dozens of std resolution movies on them or entire audio collections.
Most kids today don’t know what a CD is. With all the streaming media, the younger ones don’t know what DVDs are either. We kept the BluRay player only for transferring video from friends that haven’t made the leap yet.
Look inside your desktop box. It’s mainly air and sized only because those antique drives need the room. If anything, the “home” system will be a display with all the electronics in the back of the enclosure similar to the iMac format. A separate BOX for the electronics will cease to exist for the typical consumer. Developers may continue to use traditional formats due to specialized needs but the home PC as it is known today is rapidly going extinct…
"I can’t imagine tolerating a keyboard w/o tactile feedback very well. "
We have a wireless keyboard that our iPads can sit on. The iPad sits in a slot and rocks back slightly to engage in a way that is quite secure. The iPad sits at a perfect angle to the keyboard and provides a more traditional keyboard interface for the user. When not in use, it snaps onto the front using the built in magnets and provides a hard case protection for the display.