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| Yes | 51% | 335 votes | Total: 655 votes | |
| No | 49% | 320 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhen the military introduced first introduced global positioning systems it was due to a few key reasons. Soldiers
needed to be located on the battlefield quickly, they needed to find where they where going, and the technology
was used for generating movement statistics like speed, traffic patterns, e.t.c. More importantly, the GPS was
introduced in travel to meet the technological demands of the fast moving information age.
As GPS made its way into the civilian population car manufacturers adopted it for the same basic reasons. Because it is highly convenient the presence of the technology in automobiles spread at a pretty good rate. GPS systems give the user the basic function of maps while adding extra electronic information needed for the operator to make decisions they are otherwise not available if the person was using a traditional paper map. Future demands of the electronic age will see a gradual merger from the use of standard maps with static information to electronic based GPS systems that can gather and pass on dynamic information to the operator quickly.
One of the reasons why GPS technology will replace standard maps in travel is the same reason why other types of
technology have replaced their more basic progenitors-as the information age progresses, the use of newly introduced
electronic devices become standard in their given industry as further advances are made to the same line of technology.
Technolog y push, the ingenuity and creativity of hundreds of companies that make up the inventions we see in the electronic industry, will keep introducing faster and smarter GPS systems that will become attractive to the needs of the travel and auto industries. These include safety requirements, easier traffic management, and communication. While this economic element drives the spread of GPS technologies another force, the "consumer pull", a continued demand of travelers that need such a technology will help drive the change-over from the more basic static maps we use to the more dynamic GPS system.
The needs and expectations of your basic traveler has changed since the invention of the static paper map. It will also continue to to change, possibly at an even faster rate to match continued advances seen in todays vehicles and roadways. Imagine yourself as a road traveler back in 1945. Most likely you only needed to know how far the closest city was. In the coming future when traffic conditions change at a more rapid rate, and cars become smarter, the needs and expectation of the traveler will be much more than just checking distance and route. As evident in a lot of todays emerging vehicular technologies, your vehicle, as a smart car or truck, will most likely need to know how fast other vehicles around you are going, you will need to know how far the closest fuel station is as your car compares that information to the fuel left in its tank. These increased travel needs are better met using the GPS.
Today, the transition from the use of the static paper map to the GPS is in full swing. We see an increase in the number of people using use travel technologies like Mapquest, and Yahoo Maps to plan their travel if presented with a new destination. These technologies are based on GPS satellite information. As the number of people using these GPS-related technologies increase, the use of static paper maps by travelers will decrease, and we will eventually see a complete transition to travelers using the more fitting GPS.
Although static paper maps where first, travelers are speeding into a more connected world, and global positioning systems are simply a better fit for the travel environment that road users in coming generations will be accustomed to.
Learn more about this author, Kenneth O'Mally.
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No
Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation instrument with a narrow function of giving directions, and guiding to find places based on latitudes and longitudes. Anyone who knows maps and geography, and have some experience of using a GPS would argue that, though the GPS is a handy and advanced electronic instrument for trip planning, and travel guiding, it would never be able to replace the multiple functions and broader utility of conventional maps. Instead, GPSs are being used to enhance, and update information in conventional paper maps.
A Conventional map is a two dimensional representation of the earth, drawn to a scale, with symbols, a direction, and a key, representing man-made as well as natural features of the environment. It has a much broader utility than a GPS, and has existed in the world a very long time. The oldest known maps are preserved on Babylonian clay tablets from about 2300 B.C. The types of maps are numerous, and their utility depends on the purpose for which they are drawn.
Uses of conventional maps are threefold. Map reading a basic utility, is the translation of map features into a mental image of the environment through identification of symbols. This is true for GPS as well. In GPS one can read visual features on screen such as roads, water bodies, gas stations and so on. However, due to the small size of the screen, and its low resolution, a limited number of features are presented on GPS screen compared to conventional paper maps. The road system and the directions are the priority features on a GPS map.
Map analysis is the second use of conventional maps. By analyzing, the features of the maps are described in terms of spatial structures and relationships. The act of map analysis converts complex patterns of symbols to usable forms, such as hilly areas, lowlands, densely populated, rural, urban, rocky, high slopes, and so on. In GPS what you see on the screen constantly changes when move with it, and hence there is only little opportunity to analyze the features in relation to other places.
Map interpretation is the third aspect of conventional map use. The knowledge one gains from map reading and analysis is put to use at this stage of map study. The conventional map is said to be a springboard for imagination. It allows you to discover patterns, and relationships of various phenomena of the environment, and inspire to search for answers. For example, if one wishes to know why a certain area has more road links than in any other place, the road map in question can be overlaid with a map of economic activities, and settlement distribution, and check whether a close relationship exist. The GPS does not provide opportunity for this kind of map based discoveries.
GPS is a satellite signal receiver, technically advanced than a conventional map, but has a narrow function. It receives signals from 24 satellites orbit the earth, 12000 miles away in the sky. These satellites were placed by the U.S. Department of Defense, and organized into six orbital rings in a way that always at least four or more satellites could be seen from the earth. These satellites orbit the earth twice a day. GPS receives signals from three satellites at a time and find location, using a technique called triangulation. It uses signals from a fourth satellite to determine the altitude of that location. GPSs are mounted on cars, ships, and aircrafts, or hand held by individuals, and now also available in cell phones. Garmin Nuvi 880, Navigon 7200T,Magellan Maestro 4370,Mio C520 Navigation Receiver, Tom Tom One 125 are top rated car GPSs in the market today.
One can enter the destination address into a GPS and ask it to guide you for your trip. It tells when and where to exit, in which lane to stay, the distance to the destination and the origin, and travel time spent and remaining, until the end of your trip. You can plan your trip with the shortest distance or the fastest time options or to use most of the freeways or the local roads. The map option visualizes the local roads, highways with their names, and intersections, and other features while moving. You can find points of interest under various categories such as restaurants, bank ATMs, places for entertainments, and many other places, their addresses, phone numbers and directions, no doubt a very helpful guidance to a traveler. Unlike paper maps GPS maps gives real time data. In conventional maps chances are that you read out-dated information, but with GPS map coordinates one can also modify information on paper maps.
The guidance capability of GPS, however, depends on the signal strength from satellites. These signals work like light rays, and become weaker in cities with high-rise buildings, in narrow streets, and under trees with thick foliage. In such places, real-time navigation become difficult, and traveler could get lost, and have to use the help of conventional street maps, or the others help to find destinations. Further, GPS is an electronic instrument, and have the hazel of replacing batteries, or circuit problems, where conventional maps do not require anything, but only a place to fold and hide.
The military organizations in almost all countries hold huge pile of conventional maps, for military training, and military navigation purposes. Map and land navigation training is a compulsory element still in U.S. military. The military is also the largest user of GPS in this nation, and it has become complementary tool with conventional maps in navigation, and in military activities.
In addition, GPSs are not a tool available to everybody, as to their high cost, in many developing countries, and travelers still use conventional maps to find directions and places. With conventional maps traveler is involved thoroughly in his trip, finding directions, and it also provide fun and learning unlike a GPS that isolated from human being.
The GPS is an advanced electronic instrument that is complementary with conventional maps. It has, however, a narrow function. Conventional maps help to reveal new relationships of natural and human phenomenon on the earth surface. They do not suffer from software issues, or satellite signal problems. They have fixed features; a traveler is actively involved in planning, and executing the trip. The conventional map and GPS are complementary tools, and GPS will never have to replace conventional maps.
Learn more about this author, Don Patrick Amarasinghe.
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