“One effect of an increased dependence on GPS will be that peoples’ ability to read maps will further decay,” [Middlebury College geography professor Anne] Knowles said. “Americans are generally poor map readers. Some cannot read maps at all because it’s not part of our education.
“But what will grow, instead, will be better geographic imagination and awareness. People will see the connections between places more clearly — not quite as accurately — but will better imagine how to get from one place to another because of this technology.”
People have been giving one another directions — verbally, written out turn-by-turn, or in crude hand-drawn maps — for approximately forever; a GPS navigation system is not exactly a new paradigm. It simply allows for geographical awareness without cartographic literacy — in that sense, the analogy with spell-checking is apt, but not in the way that the article’s author expects: spell-checking doesn’t make you less literate; it removes the requirement for you to be more literate. Ditto here: GPS isn’t making us dumb; it’s making it easier for us to stay dumb.
The new 3G iPhone’s GPS is only one of several location-finding methods. From Apple’s page:
iPhone 3G uses signals from GPS satellites, Wi-Fi hot spots, and cellular towers to get the most accurate location fast. If GPS is available, iPhone displays a blue GPS indicator. But if you’re inside — without a clear line of sight to a GPS satellite — iPhone finds you via Wi-Fi. If you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot, iPhone finds you using cellular towers. And the size of a location circle tells you how accurately iPhone is able to calculate that location: The smaller the circle, the more accurate the location.
Location-finding came to iPods Touch and the original iPhone in January: old iPhones can use cell towers, and everything can use Wi Fi, so everything using this platform has at least one option. This is no doubt handy for iPhone application developers using the Core Location framework: they presumably can be agnostic about how location information comes to their app.
A lot of commentary is suggesting that mainstream GPS manufacturers are shitting themselves in the face of competition from the iPhone — the implication being that a dashboard-mounted iPhone, which could run all sorts of navigation software, would render a Garmin nüvi or suchlike redundant. I’m skeptical of such punditry. My impression is that the GPS marketplace is a lot more specialized than people think — handheld units don’t compete with dashboard navigation systems or geotaggers — so the dashboard systems will likely still be driving people into the river for many years to come.
Type-A training tweakers, metrics maniacs, peripatetic two-wheeled geo-cachers and the geographically challenged now have something to collectively rally around: the Garmin Edge 705. This latest fitness offering from the GPS giant has more than a little somethin’ somethin’ for the can’t stay put, always get lost, urban treasure hunting, serious bike training, [...]
The company Nokia announced the release of the final version of navigational applications Nokia Maps 2.0. Since last February beta program has been downloaded 240000 times, said the company. The updated version of Nokia Maps includes several new features, such as media guides for cities, satellite maps, treatment for pedestrians and new interface. Download the [...]
“Artist Erik Nordenankar says he has created the Biggest Drawing In The World. He says he gave DHL a case and travel instructions for a 55-day journey, then traced the route using GPS. The route was more than 100,000km long and went through 62 countries. The result was a self-portrait.”
A few months back I asked VE blog readers for some advice on my next mobile. After investigating a bunch of phones I finally settled on the AT&T Tilt and have been using it for a month or so and totally loving it. Overall its a fantastic smartphone, and for a geohacker its the ultimate all in one dream gadget.
Before I get to what it was that sold me on the Tilt I should answer the question of why no iPhone for me. There are a bunch of rabid iPhone users right here in my workgroup at Microsoft and we have 2 Macs at home so certainly no shortage of evangelists in my life selling me on the iPhone. I was willing to live with the slower network access on the iPhone due to lack of 3G (even though it seemed unthinkable on a 500 dollar phone!) And I was OK with relying on a bluetooth connected GPS for my mapping needs (more on that in a moment - I couldn’t have been more wrong on this one). But in the end it came down to the fact that i couldn’t stomach buying such a closed, locked down computing device. A world where a single entity controls what apps you can and can’t run isn’t one our industry should be working towards. If I build an application I should be able to give it to you and you should be able to use it. I have no interest in developing on any platform, desktop, mobile or otherwise, that offers anything less than that. I’m trying to imagine the reaction if another software vendor had tried to float this 1998 thinking as a developer platform strategy In the end, lots of sizzle and flash (no, not that flash)in the UI and an excellent web browsing experience shielded by a velvet rope designed to control what applications the consumer has access to just wasn’t for me. If you read on you’ll see that I run a bunch of apps on my phone and it’ll become clear why the iPhone just wouldn’t do it for me.
Why the Tilt? If you look back at my wishlist you see that on the surface the Tilt is a pretty good fit; superfast internet access (plus WiFi. the the AT&T 3G net is so fast I hardly use it though**), runs Slingplayer, keyboard, unlocked GPS, easy to develop for, etc… But as with any piece of consumer electronics, its how you feel after living with it for a week that really matters. The Tilt hasn’t disappointed; the build is amazingly good (slide the keyboard open to understand what i mean), its plenty fast and has lots of memory (256 megs, up to 32 gigs expansion via microSD)… My only gripe is that the installed browser is severely lacking in features which I took care of with Opera. Battery life is acceptable, but if you are running WiFi, GPS, etc… a lot, you’ll need to get it on the charger each night.
** while I hardly use WiFi to surf the net, I HAVE been using this app to turn my phone into a wifi Access Point. Totally sick! It uses the phones 3G connection to send/receive to the internet, and becomes a low power wifi router so anyone nearby can connect to the net using standard wifi via their Laptop.
What about Maps and GPS? Killer! I had no idea how much having a built in GPS would change my life, until i lived with it. With my last phone i used an external GPS via bluetooth and found that when i needed it, i had often not brought it along. one more thing to remember to carry. as a result, over time I found I hardly ever used it. I’ve used the GPS on the Tilt more in 4 weeks than I have in the previous 2 years. when its always there, you start using it in ways you never would otherwise. one very nerdy example - i was at a music festival 2 weeks ago where parking was basically a giant open field, without lights or section marks. I snapped a waypoint each day when going in, then used the Tilt’s GPS to guide me back to our car each night.
I mentioned above that the Tilt with its unlocked GPS is a perfect for building your own applications. If you’re so inclined, I suggest getting started with the open source GPSTracker on Codeplex; very well written C# code that is easy to modify. I added KML export and a couple of minor features in 30 minutes! It will work with any WinMo device that has a GPS be it built in or Bluetooth.
And finally, if you have a WinMo or Blackberry and you haven’t installed Live Search Mobile, do it now, thank me later. Voice command, directions, GPS navigation, maps, aerial imagery, movie times, gas prices, Business Search… and the forthcoming release packs my favorite feature which I’m not allowed to tell you about just yet.
In the end, lots of sizzle and flash (no, not 
