tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post411973417735612201..comments2024-03-28T05:14:44.500-04:00Comments on Sightings Over Sixty: I Love MapsTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08611148987085476580noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-90529455474934966462014-04-30T10:55:33.912-04:002014-04-30T10:55:33.912-04:00Reminds me of the 67 year old woman from Belgium w...Reminds me of the 67 year old woman from Belgium who relied on a GPS to take her to another city to pick up a friend. 900 miles later she wound up in CroatiaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-61256110730061566872014-04-26T11:55:01.454-04:002014-04-26T11:55:01.454-04:00P.S. The same old friend (mentioned above) was agh...P.S. The same old friend (mentioned above) was aghast to learn that I had taken nary a map (nor a GPS) with me in driving to a funeral, alone, in August 2012 - a total distance of just under 3000 miles. Each driver is different is the "news" we should know by now.<br />CCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-34328766665539223512014-04-26T11:51:13.284-04:002014-04-26T11:51:13.284-04:00My car (4 weeks old) has a GPS - only because it w...My car (4 weeks old) has a GPS - only because it was already there. I don't need no stinkin' GPS, nor do I (in general) need a map. An old friend is afraid to drive from Wichita to Tulsa. I tell her to drive south on I-35 and follow the road signs. The signage is so good these days that getting from place to place is no big deal. What gets challenging is the way city streets do strange things.<br /><br />BTW: Just to check it out, I tried my new GPS in getting home from a meeting in a city about 1.5 hours' drive from home - in which I had never driven. The darned thing had me on squirrel paths - twisty-turny-single-lane road just to get out of the strange town. My husband, who drove his own car home from the same place, the next day said that his GPS kept him on the main streets that each of us had used to drive TO the place. Both cars are the same brand and only 1 model-year apart. My saleswoman shrugged to say, "Go figure!"<br />Cop CarAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-21431611162259824972014-04-25T17:21:09.194-04:002014-04-25T17:21:09.194-04:00As part of my job, I worked with maps for over 30 ...As part of my job, I worked with maps for over 30 years. This much I learned...they are not static. Nothing, whether on paper,google, GPS,or anywhere else is completely current. Maps on the East Coast are the worst because the population density. Redistributing, boundary changes, road construction and other factors can drive one mad. <br /><br />I worked on the local access and transport maps for the big Bell breakup ( the result of decisions by stupid Democrats, I might add) and can tell you that it was a nightmare. <br /><br />If you think street networks are a mess, you should take a gander at telecommunications networks. The only thing more complicated is the circulatory system in the human body. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-31563884192150806662014-04-25T16:20:50.936-04:002014-04-25T16:20:50.936-04:00I like to use a map and GPS. My only real problems...I like to use a map and GPS. My only real problems navigating happen when I forget to use the third tool--my head. The last time I forget to bring an appropriate map and ignored the GPS directions we were well on the way to Toronto before I realized our Detroit destination was in the opposite direction.Dick Kladehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11793395712483278104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-18983032721050471162014-04-25T15:25:54.110-04:002014-04-25T15:25:54.110-04:00Great blog post!
It's important to understan...Great blog post! <br /><br />It's important to understand that when people choose to rely on a GPS device, it's not always just a generational difference - some people are truly directionally challenged and unable to form a "cognitive map" or make sense of a paper map. <br /><br />Everyone can learn the skills they need to navigate independently, but it takes considerable time, effort, and attention. <br /><br />We, as a society, don't do a good job of teaching our kids how to navigate, so when they get behind the wheel for the first time, it's a shock (to them and their parents) that they don't know how to find their way.<br /><br />If you want to know more about directional challenges and how to overcome them, take a look at my book (with Myron Grant), "Directional Sense: How to Find Your Way Around". www.directionalsense.com<br /><br />Thanks for bringing up this important topic!<br /><br />Jan Carpman, PhD<br />Carpman Grant Associates, Wayfinding Consultants, <br />Ann Arbor, MI<br />www.wayfinding.comAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01730225975759772831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-54383628197537622472014-04-25T15:01:58.272-04:002014-04-25T15:01:58.272-04:00GPS, and the benefits, is a sign of the technology...GPS, and the benefits, is a sign of the technology times we as boomers are navigating for the most part. I find maps are valuable when the driving consists mostly of finding your way throughout the countryside, with rural and long stretches of interstate and turnpike driving. The GPS is handy and helpful in making the varying sized metropolitan areas less intimidating. Solo driving with a GPS in a metropolitan area is a sanity saver. I have yet to master the multi-tasking feat of holding onto the steering wheel, catching the applicable signs in time, paying attention to arrowed lanes in the vicinity of traffic lights, one way streets which many metropolitan areas utilize, watching for pedestrians, bicycles and buses and glancing at a map while doing all of the aforementioned. Not without sweaty palms! Last fall my companero and I were in B.C. Canada on a one week road trip and shortly after our return home a GPS was purchased. During our metropolitan Vancouver explorations I drove and one of the direction phrases offered to me was, "turn there". At moments like that I knew a GPS was in the stars for me! I am glad I know how to read maps, there is a certain comfort in having them, and I am enthusiastically open to all possibilities of GPS. Hauolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18107720882281050537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-91350824837483450262014-04-25T12:55:37.932-04:002014-04-25T12:55:37.932-04:00Since I never had any driving lessons, walked or t...Since I never had any driving lessons, walked or took a public bus everywhere I know how to use a map, I read them and learn them and can remember where I am where I am going and what we are to do there..GPS we did not have it installed at all, we use maps and I call when we are going long distances to visit childhood friends and we find their homes and the campground just fine..Maps are an invaluable tool, but the young kids today don't even know what a rotary dial phone or a party line is so they don't really know what a map is either, I think they missed out and miss out on a lot of valuable tools in which to navigate life! just must be my opinion..I learned cursive in school and also got to take home-economics all 4 years in high school to boot, it bode me well, in catholic school to me it seemed all about sin, hell and damnation and Latin..Did not use any of that but home-ec as it was called helped me to live on my own at barely 18 years of age, work and get to & from colleges and have a great life!!!!!!!!!!!1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-49326388838591048712014-04-25T07:54:12.138-04:002014-04-25T07:54:12.138-04:00I don't have a GPS. When I need to go to some...I don't have a GPS. When I need to go to somewhere new, I google for directions street by street. Maps are useless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-35327069309990495572014-04-25T07:21:14.595-04:002014-04-25T07:21:14.595-04:00We use our GPS a lot, but we also take the directi...We use our GPS a lot, but we also take the directions with a grain of salt, knowing it can sometimes be very wrong. It does try to take us through the heart of busy sections instead of a faster way around. My eyesight does not work well on maps as I have aged, so the GPS is important.Taborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15257045780724471840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-85972580592706432952014-04-24T23:51:50.468-04:002014-04-24T23:51:50.468-04:00Last time I bought a car I opted to not buy the GP...Last time I bought a car I opted to not buy the GPS. I live in a small town...there aren't that many streets! However, it would be handy for mapping out yard sales.#1Nanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04214011945298439939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-50734444988643877452014-04-24T20:55:56.437-04:002014-04-24T20:55:56.437-04:00I tend to go to the same places over and over. Onc...I tend to go to the same places over and over. Once I know how to get there, I don't need a map or GPS. But I have to say how convenient Siri is when I want to go to a new place! :-)DJanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152183871573797791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-61332845082716661242014-04-24T20:23:56.720-04:002014-04-24T20:23:56.720-04:00I love maps, but I also use my GPS all the time. I...I love maps, but I also use my GPS all the time. I've always had a pretty good sense of where I am and a map certainly gives me that big picture but that said I like the detail that a GPS can give me. That and the fact that when we are riding far from the road the background map on my handheld GPS can be handy.<br />JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09016073653349776611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-51406875529773068812014-04-24T19:32:42.665-04:002014-04-24T19:32:42.665-04:00I have a terrible sense of direction and need all ...I have a terrible sense of direction and need all the help I can get. I like my GPS but tend to rely more on maps.stephen Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17659054447637207734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-55867123731152603582014-04-24T17:44:18.151-04:002014-04-24T17:44:18.151-04:00I hear ya. My husband always has to use the GPS. ...I hear ya. My husband always has to use the GPS. It drives me bonkers. I think using a GPS sets one up for dementia. We have to use our recall, visualize the route, and know how to think of an alternative route on our own if necessary, in order to keep our brains active. Problem solving is good. It should be done every time we drive. I love to read maps too. My kids, and they are in their 30s and 40s don't even own maps. Sally Wesselyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06470453773515491625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-24966983375923007752014-04-24T13:36:22.413-04:002014-04-24T13:36:22.413-04:00You are absolutely 100% correct. A map is the bes...You are absolutely 100% correct. A map is the best bet, and one in your head--all the better. That makes it better than best, but you know what I mean.Olgahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00692441479616299920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-74191374999920403722014-04-24T13:26:55.112-04:002014-04-24T13:26:55.112-04:00That "insistence" of the GPS to misplace...That "insistence" of the GPS to misplace us even happens, sometimes, on the golf course. But, like you, I am "old school" and prefer a map on paper.Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09752593286034877538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-626594980028435818.post-36859060549064310512014-04-24T12:48:50.454-04:002014-04-24T12:48:50.454-04:00I will not have a GPS. I borrowed my sister-in-law...I will not have a GPS. I borrowed my sister-in-law's years ago to go from their house to my high school buddy about 30 minutes away. I put in "shortest distance" instead of "fastest distance" and I was on unpaved roads in northern Georgia. We laughed about it, but give me my map. I had an Android with a GPS in it which saved us a couple of times, but my iPhone has Google maps and I just use that when necessary. I need that "map in my head!"Denisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04713042854886303569noreply@blogger.com