Will your phone replace a map? Don’t hold your breath
Can a phone replace a map?
That’s the implied promise two new cell phones — the upcoming Blackberry Bold and iPhone 2.0 — plus countless other gadgets with mapping and GPS functions.
But how beneficial and practical are they? Everyone who’s ever stood on a busy street with a map in their hand and still was lost knows how helpless and frustrating that feels.
In the last 15 years, GPS technology has shrunk in size and grown in functionality to the point where it’s a companion device. Newer chipsets cut the time to find your location to under 30 seconds. The ability to bring gigabytes of maps along with you will ensure you can find your way from point ‘A’ to to point ‘B’. I can use my GPSes to find local restaurants and shops just about anywhere.
But there’s still a major gap to cross before I can use a GPS as a companion to any tourist guidebook.
Here are the major problems with phone-based GPSes:
Reliance on data connectivity due to no local data storage. Google Maps and Windows Live Search for the Blackberry are amazing applications. But the mandatory data connection is a killer, so this won’t work when you’re out of coverage or overseas where it’s prohibitively expensive to use.
Fee For Service. I can’t blame companies for wanting to make money, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be frugal.
GPS-lite. Even if your phone doesn’t have GPS, you can still use programs like Google Maps to do triangulation via cell towers. The accuracy is a few blocks away – at best. But that’s to be expected.
Basic navigation. It took me a while to find a simple third-party compass program for my Blackberry and nothing exists for my current iPhone.
That’s not to say that the GPS is an overpriced gadget. Quite the contrary — it does a lot of things very well.
When you’re in a new city, the route calculation is superb. Most car GPS models can pick up traffic information, so you know what to expect when driving, or will tell you the nearest gas station or restaurants.
However, most GPS devices have country/continent specific maps, so for me to take a car GPS overseas wouldn’t do me any good, unless I wanted to spend close to $100 on a specific GPS map. A $20 book is more my speed.
Also, there’s something to be said about being able to read a map indoors, whereas the GPS won’t get a signal.
So, how do you not get lost?
Despite traveling with a handheld GPS with maps, I still instinctively reach for a keychain-sized compass in my bag just because it’s quicker. A good map and finding North is a lot quicker than firing up a GPS, waiting until calculates where you are, and then pinpointing your location.
Both are companions for now, but with more mainstream acceptance and integration of a GPS into everything, I’m looking forward to the day where I have one single device that will service the function of a guidebook and GPS.
You may also be interested in these articles
Comments
2 Responses to “Will your phone replace a map? Don’t hold your breath”
Please share your thoughts...
Here in the US I have been using my iphone google maps regularly. During a drive from Boston to DC the iphone’s mapping abilities allowed me to travel without a glove compartment full of maps. Downtown in DC, the maps were perfect.
When walking or taking public transportation when I don’t normally carry a map, the iphone has been a real time saver. Data conectivity has only been a problem based on bad AT&T coverage, but overall it is good.
I agree that using the iphone in Europe is ridiculously expensive, but here at home, my iphone has replaced my maps on many occasions.
I feel validated:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Forget-satnav-if-you-want.4278659.jp
:)