About GPS
One of the oldest known factors preventing successful use of electronics is operator error. The recent spate of lost-in-the-woods with GPS incidents shows that operator error is alive and well. GPS receivers are many things, but they are not a cure for stupidity or for America's endemic geographic illiteracy.
It seems likely that car-mounted or hand-held GPS devices represent another instance of technology more sophisticated than most of its users. On the one hand, it requires a high level of obstinacy, stupidity or both to continue going forward when one finds oneself on an unplowed dirt road in a foot of snow. On the other, it is useless for company reps or the Air Force to say that users should always cross-check the device against maps or charts. Nine out of ten Americans can't read even the simplest map. But the makers don't want to dwell too much on this, I think. They know, or ought to know, that people buy GPS devices as a substitute for geographic literacy. They can't say "don't buy a GPS unless you can read a map and exercise common sense," because they'd be out of business if they did.
I can read road maps, topographical maps and nautical charts, so I find the GPS device a very handy tool. I have no hesitation about overruling the device's recommendations when it's clear they are unwise. Even sophisticated users can get into trouble if they don't.
Some years back, I was crew on a rescue boat accompanying sailboat races in these parts. It was early in the season, with rough seas and reduced visibility. The skipper, a retired Navy type of vast experience, decided it would be best to enter the locations of key navigation marks in the GPS as we passed them on the way out.
On returning, we began to notice that the device was giving us buoy locations that weren't squaring with observations. We also noticed that the new electronic fluxgate compass wasn't working properly. It took no time to decide to ignore the GPS and navigate by observation, since all aboard knew the local waters very well. If the visibility had been a little worse, we might have been in trouble.
A few days later, the skipper told me what had happened. The GPS was fine, but the fluxgate compass had been installed within a couple of feet of the GPS. The resultant conflict of magnetic fields threw both devices off (very much like the situation in the previous link). Once this was resolved, both compass and GPS worked fine.
Several people should have known better. The installer should have been more alert and should have tested both devices. At least two us aboard should have observed from the start that the two electronic devices were too close together: this sort of thing was within our experience.
If two former Navy people with electronics experience could be fooled by an installation error, what happens to a consumer with no experience at all? If they don't at least exercise common sense, they get lost in the snow.
You should not do magic that you do not understand, or at least learn to read a map.
It seems likely that car-mounted or hand-held GPS devices represent another instance of technology more sophisticated than most of its users. On the one hand, it requires a high level of obstinacy, stupidity or both to continue going forward when one finds oneself on an unplowed dirt road in a foot of snow. On the other, it is useless for company reps or the Air Force to say that users should always cross-check the device against maps or charts. Nine out of ten Americans can't read even the simplest map. But the makers don't want to dwell too much on this, I think. They know, or ought to know, that people buy GPS devices as a substitute for geographic literacy. They can't say "don't buy a GPS unless you can read a map and exercise common sense," because they'd be out of business if they did.
I can read road maps, topographical maps and nautical charts, so I find the GPS device a very handy tool. I have no hesitation about overruling the device's recommendations when it's clear they are unwise. Even sophisticated users can get into trouble if they don't.
Some years back, I was crew on a rescue boat accompanying sailboat races in these parts. It was early in the season, with rough seas and reduced visibility. The skipper, a retired Navy type of vast experience, decided it would be best to enter the locations of key navigation marks in the GPS as we passed them on the way out.
On returning, we began to notice that the device was giving us buoy locations that weren't squaring with observations. We also noticed that the new electronic fluxgate compass wasn't working properly. It took no time to decide to ignore the GPS and navigate by observation, since all aboard knew the local waters very well. If the visibility had been a little worse, we might have been in trouble.
A few days later, the skipper told me what had happened. The GPS was fine, but the fluxgate compass had been installed within a couple of feet of the GPS. The resultant conflict of magnetic fields threw both devices off (very much like the situation in the previous link). Once this was resolved, both compass and GPS worked fine.
Several people should have known better. The installer should have been more alert and should have tested both devices. At least two us aboard should have observed from the start that the two electronic devices were too close together: this sort of thing was within our experience.
If two former Navy people with electronics experience could be fooled by an installation error, what happens to a consumer with no experience at all? If they don't at least exercise common sense, they get lost in the snow.
You should not do magic that you do not understand, or at least learn to read a map.
posted by Uncle | 12:19
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