Why Older Folks Need a GPS:

[audreyh1]

In case you forget where are you going while you are driving!!!

That happened to us today. On the way somewhere I too a quick detour to the bank to check something. And upon leaving headed home. DH remarks that the GPS wants us to do a U-turn.

Right - we forgot we were on our way to a favorite breakfast spot!

Good thing the GPS knew where we were supposed to go!

 

[ls99]

It will also lead them down the primrose path.

My Gps wants me to follow a route to my mancave that has been closed and impassable for at et least 40 years. OTOH it funny to listen to the apoplectic recalculating voice. Until it it is too much and I just turn it off.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh, lots of times our GPS screws up and we know to second guess it.

But today we were the ones wrong!!!

 

[David1961]

I wonder how I ever got along without a GPS.
I have an older Garmin model and I love the way the GPS says "Recalculating!" whenever I make a "wrong" turn. It sounds like she is scolding me!

 

[RetireAge50]

And maybe a sign of getting old is using a GPS to get to a "favorite" breakfast place.

 

[aja8888]

No matter where I am (lost or otherwise), all I have to do is hit the "Home" button and it will take me there!

 

[audreyh1]

And maybe a sign of getting old is using a GPS to get to a "favorite" breakfast place.

Well, if you are way across the city, and haven't approached it from that direction, you might want to calculate the best route.

Not unreasonable!

 

[explanade]

I use Google Maps on iPhone and iPad not only for driving directions but also walking around a city I'm visiting.

No more paper maps to fold and unfold.

That includes subway maps as I use an iPhone app to search bus and subway options. Been using Citymapper in Paris and London. Very useful for bus maps, which aren't always handy. Buses are often better options than subways.

 

[RonBoyd]

Garmin Auto GPS Sales Continue Decline - GPS Tracklog

For the last few years, GPS companies have seen a continual and gradual decline in their sales and Garmin has been allowing for 10% – 15% quarterly decline of its automotive unit. In the most recent quarter, the automotive segment fell right in line with that at a loss of 11% from the first quarter of last year. It might not sound like all that much, but this continual decline has really begun to show. To put that in perspective, The Motley Fool reported that in 2011 automotive units made up roughly 60% of Garmin’s overall revenue. However, in 2015, that number has dropped to just over half–a whopping 37% of sales overall.

I am curious as to what alternative(s) to Automotive GPS units is/are taking market share. I cannot see, for example, how a cell phone with such tiny (relative) screens can be that useful when driving in an unfamiliar large (Chicago, Dallas, or Los Angeles, for instance).

Garmin, BTW, is trying very hard to compete. This is their current top-of-line model (I have one ordered):

nüviCam™ LMTHD

Some of the newer innovations:

All-in-one 6.0-inch premium navigator with built-in dash cam and driver awareness features

Detailed maps of North America with free lifetime¹ map updates and HD

Digital Traffic², the best traffic avoidance solution available from Garmin

Integrated dash cam continuously records your drive and automatically saves files on impact

Forward Collision Warning³ alerts if you drive too close to the car ahead

Lane Departure Warning³ alerts if you drift off the road or into oncoming traffic

Garmin Real Vision™ displays camera view when approaching select destinations

 

[imoldernu]

About the "new innovations"...

Am thinking I could send the car out on its' own, do a video, and bring it all back so I could watch it on my TV, sitting in my recliner. Haven't been back to Chicago in years. a great way to update my memories.

 

[NW-Bound]

Ah, still being able to use a GPS is not so bad. Wait until you are in a wheelchair, waiting for a lift from a shuttle for the elderly. Or perhaps till you do not even remember what a GPS is used for.

Oops. Sorry. No need to be so gloomy on a fine Monday morning.

 

[explanade]

Self driving cars will kill what is left of the gps market.

 

[audreyh1]

Garmin Auto GPS Sales Continue Decline - GPS Tracklog

I am curious as to what alternative(s) to Automotive GPS units is/are taking market share. I cannot see, for example, how a cell phone with such tiny (relative) screens can be that useful when driving in an unfamiliar large (Chicago, Dallas, or Los Angeles, for instance).

Garmin, BTW, is trying very hard to compete. This is their current top-of-line model (I have one ordered):

nüviCam™ LMTHD

Some of the newer innovations:

Honestly - I think it is the phones stealing their marketshare. Phones give turn by turn instructions and if you have a co-pilot to operate it, it's even easier! We seem to use the phone half the time because it's usually quicker to set up for a new destination. If it's already saved, then the GPS is usually faster.

And then all these cars with built-in GPS, proximity sensors, etc..... I don't know how much of that market Garmin has captured.

 

[HFWR]

In case you forget where are you going while you are driving!!!

That happened to us today. On the way somewhere I too a quick detour to the bank to check something. And upon leaving headed home. DH remarks that the GPS wants us to do a U-turn.

Right - we forgot we were on our way to a favorite breakfast spot!

Good thing the GPS knew where we were supposed to go!

I'd probably remember breakfast but forget the errand...

 

[audreyh1]

I'd probably remember breakfast but forget the errand...

It was funny. I guess by the time I was done at the bank I'd forgotten that I was hungry, LOL!

 

[haha]

Self driving cars will kill what is left of the gps market.

Oh sure, and they will be right along any day now.

 

[explanade]

Musk claims within 5 years.

Car and tech companies are racing each other as if they're coming in the near horizon.

Either way standalone car navigation market is dying.

 

[audreyh1]

Self-driving cars will contain a GPS, so it's hard to say they will kill the GPS market.

Rather, the question is whether current GPS manufacturers like Garmin will have a piece of that GPS market.

And what about all the people walking around or using public transportation that need GPS to find their way, or to know when to get off the bus or train?

 

[AnonEMouse]

The lawyers are going to have to work out the liability issues first. If a self-driving car gets in an accident (in auto mode), who is at fault? The car manufacturer? The software company? The car owner?

I look forward to it myself, but am not holding my breath. But wouldn't it be neat to go to the airport, take out your luggage, then tell your car to go home so you won't have to pay the exorbitant airport parking rates that skyrockets every year? Of course you'll have to tell your car to drive to the airport to pick you up on your return too. Wonder if they'll even allow self-driving cars without a human in them. While I'm dreaming, might as well make it a flying car too.

 

[audreyh1]

The lawyers are going to have to work out the liability issues first. If a self-driving car gets in an accident (in auto mode), who is at fault? The car manufacturer? The software company? The car owner?

I look forward to it myself, but am not holding my breath. But wouldn't it be neat to go to the airport, take out your luggage, then tell your car to go home so you won't have to pay the exorbitant airport parking rates that skyrockets every year? Of course you'll have to tell your car to drive to the airport to pick you up on your return too. Wonder if they'll even allow self-driving cars without a human in them. While I'm dreaming, might as well make it a flying car too.

I'd love to have my car come pick me up at the airport!!! We can only dream!!!

That's a great one!

 

[explanade]

Actually one of the ideas is that you wouldn't own cars, that it'll be on demand car share where you order the car with your phone on an as needed basis.

 

[aja8888]

I'd love to have my car come pick me up at the airport!!! We can only dream!!!

That's a great one!

That reality would benefit my DW who does that trip now!

 

[NW-Bound]

Actually one of the ideas is that you wouldn't own cars, that it'll be on demand car share where you order the car with your phone on an as needed basis.

Exactly. Not everyone is enamored with a car enough to care to have his or her own.

Imagine how robot cars would kill off so many existing businesses. We would need a lot fewer cars. For example, retirees do not need to have a couple of cars sitting unused most of the time in their garage. Car makers will sell fewer. The enhanced usage of shared robot cars means less auto production, fewer dealership, service garages, insurance agencies, etc...

By the way, the strict GPS function, which is to provide 3D position (latitude/longitude/altitude), is now comprised in a single GPS receiver chip, worth a few bucks each in production quantities. It's the least problem, whether technical or cost-wise, in the making of a robot car. And I am not holding my breath for a true robot car, for other technical reasons that I outlined in a recent post on another thread.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Wow, I just use my phone for navigation. I'd never buy a standalone model.

We used a separate Spot brand device for tracking on our around-the-world trip, but it was primarily to keep our website updated and send a message each day to the folks back home to assure them we weren't languishing in some Godforsakistan prison.

And you can just ask Google about traffic or whatever and it pulls it right up.

 

[Alan]

I use Google Maps on iPhone and iPad not only for driving directions but also walking around a city I'm visiting.

No more paper maps to fold and unfold.

That includes subway maps as I use an iPhone app to search bus and subway options. Been using Citymapper in Paris and London. Very useful for bus maps, which aren't always handy. Buses are often better options than subways.

This is our first trip using Google Maps on an iPhone (6). The screen is actually bigger than our old Garmin plus much easier to zoom in and out etc. I'm really impressed at the real time updates on traffic congestion and with 2 of us in the car it is really helpful to have the navigator handling the maps and directions. It also has a bluetooth connection so directions come through the car's sound system, quieting any music as needed.

We've also been using it for walking around the streets of new cities. My iphone has now replaced my old cell phone, my iPod Classic, my camera, my Garmin car GPS and my Garmin hiking GPS, as it has all the detailed contour maps I need.