Arizhel · HackerTrans

I've spent the large majority of my life without a smartphone too. I have no trouble knowing where I am or how to get back when I use GPS navigation, or building a "mental map" of the area. I really don't know what's wrong with you people who make these claims.

Arizhel

há 9 anosdiscuss

This is BS. GPS reduces your cognitive load, because it navigates for you. Without it, you have to look at a map (which is extremely dangerous while driving), you have to look for street signs, you have to try to read building numbers from the street. It's extremely distracting trying to find a location in a place you've never been. GPS takes care of all that for you.

People like you always talk about the GPS device being distracting, but how is that better than having no clue where you're going, or trying to read a giant paper map while you're driving and you've missed a turn and there's no place to pull over? You seem to basically be assuming that people should be able to memorize an entire map just by looking at it, and then somehow magically know which road is which even though the signage is frequently horrible. The real world doesn't work the way you think it does.

Arizhel

há 9 anosdiscuss

Exactly; I agree 100%. GPS has made me a much better driver: I don't miss turns, I'm not distracted trying to find some fallen-down or turned-sideways street sign or trying to read building numbers from the street, and I'm alerted to traffic backups so I have a chance of avoiding them.

Arizhel

há 9 anosdiscuss

>which btw is hideously incomprehensible -- I'm talking old c++ with almost no comments

What does "old" have to do with it? Modern code is all like that too. Every time I complain about it, including just a day or two right here on HN, I get a bunch of responses saying "I don't need comments, my code is self-documenting". In my experience, most programmers do not use comments much at all, and it's entirely incomprehensible to anyone new to the project.

Arizhel

há 9 anosdiscuss

I can't imagine why you wouldn't want navigational assistance. The only time I drive without my GPS is if I'm going somewhere I go frequently, along a route I normally travel, and it's a short distance. Any place new, and I'm using GPS, and even if I'm going someplace familiar, and I'm familiar with the route, if it's a good distance away I use the GPS anyway to make sure I don't miss a turn and also, very importantly, to reroute me according to traffic conditions. I don't care how good you think your knowledge of the roads in a city are: there is no possible way that you can know that there's a traffic jam or accident along your normal route (unless you're like Paul Atreides). A traffic-aware GPS system will alert you to these things and reroute you if possible.

The thing that's valuable about having that "big picture" awareness of your city is in being able to second-guess the GPS when it gives you bad information, which is rare but it does happen because they're not perfect, or to know that the route it's chosen will only save you 10 seconds but will take you through a residential area with speedbumps instead of a larger road meant for through traffic.