MichaelMcKinlay.com

I don’t own a car but when I do finally cave in and get one, I’ll make sure it has a GPS system. I’m pretty decent when it comes to reading maps and finding my way around, but after using a GPS on my trip down to the States it would be pretty hard to go back to using a regular map. That would be like using a super computer to make calculations and then going back to using a simple pen and paper!

I first saw GPS systems being used in regular cars back when I was living in Japan in 2001. I thought they were really useful (even if I couldn’t read them since they were in Japanese.) They are particularly useful in Japan as most streets in Japan do not have names and are difficult to navigate. Every time I hear the the U2 song, “Where the Streets Have No Name.” I think to myself that Bono must have been inspired to write that song after visiting Japan!

The GPS was great as it was quite accurate in estimating time of arrival and was able to tell exactly how far a particular destination was. It also was useful in locating restaurants, shopping centers, libraries, and even Starbucks. I once did a search on the GPS for Starbucks and it came up with like 10 different locations all within 5 miles of where I was. I didn’t know whether to be amazed at how it found so many Starbucks so quickly, or the sheer number of Starbucks locations within 5 miles!

The bad thing about the GPS was that sometimes the maps or routes that it came up with were incorrect. For example, I programmed it to give me directions from Calgary to Phoenix. The route it chose was accurate for the most part but sometimes it instructed me to take back roads instead of the main highway. I think it did this because technically those routes were slightly shorter.

Overall the GPS was awesome and even if you know your way around they are still pretty handy. I could even carry mine around in my pocket when I went on hikes. Anyways they are great little systems so check it out.