On the subject of GPS, I recently had to travel to a city, and an unfamiliar one at that. As I have used a smartphone within the last few years, I was slightly worried about getting to the venue on time, or getting lost on my way back. During my pre-smartphone years I’d have not thought twice about it, I’d have just done it with confidence. This really shocked me, and really hammered-home something: Smartphones in particular are eroding our confidence in ourselves (and others) and creating insecurity and dependence. They are making us feeble and in need of big G (or Apple, or whoever) to hold our hands, make us feel “safe”, tell us where to go and what to do.
Enough of that! I just looked at OpenStreetmap (a printed “A to Z”, tourist information leaflet, or any other paper map would be just as good). I figured that if I left the station and headed roughly in the direction of the nearby park, then followed the tram lines / main road to a certain retail store, I then just needed to look out for a street with a particular name… It turned out to be easier and quicker than trying to do it on a smartphone anyway. And once I’d walked it once, that was it, I knew the route. No worries about getting lost. And far better than walking around staring at a screen that just tells you to turn left or right!
I also drove from one end of the country to the other last year, just by following the road-signs from town to town. I knew approximately which towns/regions/cities were on the way to my destination, so I knew if I headed for them, I’d be going approximately the right way. This is exactly how we used to do it before GPS, and it actually made for a shorter journey time. It was also less stressful. No inputting of postcodes or street names, just remember (or write down) 4 or 5 place names in order.
To those people worried about leaving Google / Apple maps behind, please don’t forget that every single one of your ancestors from the dawn of time up to your generation, managed perfectly well without GPS. For a million years, they safely returned home at the end of the day, met, dated, (possibly) married, and had all the children that eventually lead to you, all without GPS!
Do you want to be an effective, strong, independent individual who can stand up on their own two feet, or do you want to be a fearful slave to Google/Apple/Microsoft, who is powerless to do anything without having their hand held, and who can’t make any decisions for themselves?
Why wouldn’t you want to do even one trivial little thing that would make your ancestors proud?
