# Who needs GPS...



## dragon-architect (Mar 13, 2010)

...when GoogleMaps exists for completely free? XD

I've just spend the past three or so days scrutinizing downtown Atlanta in preparation for FWA. And I will likely spend the next couple of weeks doing the same; studying where landmarks are, which ways roads go, what roads are where, and so on. I've filled up two pages of a yellow note pad with turn-by-turn directions so that I can drive by the hotel on Thursday without getting lost due to a wrong turn.

I've planned three different routes from I-85 south up three different access ramps, and I have three different route plans for getting back ONTO I-85 south, and I made sure to include one HOV lane access ramp in each set of three. The only thing I could do better than this is to somehow print off a high-detail map from GoogleMaps with all the roads labeled and all my intended routes marked.

Not only that, but I've also planned out how I'm going to get to and from the two MARTA stations that I'll be using. Since I'll be lodging with an aunt that lives a little southwest of Atlanta, I get to ride the yellow/green line from College Park all the way up to Peachtree Center and back every day.  No, the aunt does not live in College Park. No, I will not say where she lives exactly. However, I did Gmap the directions to her new place just to scope out the territory and prep myself for what I should expect to see as I'm approaching her address.

GPS exists for people who don't like asking for directions if they get lost. GPS exists for people who want to toss their money away. GPS exists for people who have a tendency to not plan ahead.

GoogleMaps exists for people who DO like asking for directions and do not mind getting lost (after all, you're trying to memorize a roadmap--a wrong turn will happen somewhere in there). Gmaps exists for people who want to save their money. Gmaps exists for people who like to plan ahead.

And by golly, if I could, I'd post a map with all of my planned routes drawn on it just to show you guys how OCD I am about planning things down to the last detail, and then making alternative plans just in case things go awry. It's a habit that I learned from my high school band director, along with his mantra: "If you're early, you're on time, but you're late if you're on time." (In other words: "SHOW UP EARLY!! Don't wait until the clock strikes Zero Hour!")

For those of you who don't know me that well, it's really hard to get me to spaz out when things don't go to plan. I just stop and think, "There's a Plan B in here. Let's work it up first before we forge onward." Well this time, I have Plan A, and I also have a Plan B and a Plan C for the first half of my Thursday trek through downtown Atlanta (yes, I could take the I-285 bypass from I-75 to I-85, but then I'll completely miss the Hilton entirely by several miles). Then I also have a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C for the second half (getting back onto I-85).

The last time I was in a city that I wasn't familiar with, I spent a half hour the night before studying the major roads on Gmaps so I could figure out approximately where I was in the city while driving through it. I got lost once, but once I hit another major road, I was right back on track again. 

GPS, you can just kiss mah fat feathered butt! Gmaps is my roadside travel aid for Furry Weekend Atlanta!


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## Xipoid (Mar 13, 2010)

Atlanta isn't THAT confusing. Some parts can be pretty bad, but I don't think you need to do all that. There's a trade off between pre-planning, effectiveness, and efficiency, and I say this as someone who also plans obsessively (on a comparative level). Some times it is fun to just wander about the city (in broad daylight).


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## dragon-architect (Mar 13, 2010)

I've gotten lost in the downtown sectors of cities before. A little bit of pre-planning with a map goes a looooooong way to keeping one from getting lost. Especially when it comes to figuring out which access ramps are the ones that you need to take and which ones you need to avoid. Interstates are a horribly tangled pain in the BUTT! >.<

I've been to Nashville far more times than I've been to Atlanta, and I -still- get lost on some interchanges up there. Especially the one where I-40 meets Briley Parkway. TDOT completely revamped that one a few years ago so that traffic can smoothly transition from one road to the other without traffic lights (the old version used traffic lights, and it would get gridlocked in no time flat during rush hour) and it still fools me every time.

I don't mind driving on the interstate. I just hate having to decipher the tangled mess of access ramps in the middle of a city center. @~@


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## Dragoneer (Mar 14, 2010)

I love my GPS. Pull over any exit, I have everything one button a way - from car services (oil, tire, etc), restaurants, shopping, gas, anything. You name it. I have it on my GPS.

Sometimes a GPS is more worthwhile for those things "in between" as much as it is just getting to and from A and B.

Google Maps is free, but inaccurate (for example, it estimates a drive from my place to New Brunswick, NJ is 4.5 hours, but it's only a 3.5 hour trip) and sometimes it's not always accurate. Plus, Google Maps sucks if there's traffic, and doesn't always give you instant redirection to avoid bad roads, construction, accidents or more. Plus my GPS gets live traffic updates! <3 While Google Maps' website has live traffic, unless you have a laptop with an aircard, it's hard to use while driving, and if you're using a cellphone for it, illegal in several states.

GPS = love.


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## Stargazer Bleu (Mar 15, 2010)

Dragoneer said:


> I love my GPS. Pull over any exit, I have everything one button a way - from car services (oil, tire, etc), restaurants, shopping, gas, anything. You name it. I have it on my GPS.
> 
> Sometimes a GPS is more worthwhile for those things "in between" as much as it is just getting to and from A and B.
> 
> ...



I got the free maps too and some were wrong a bit on time.  
It also depends on how fast you were going too hmm??:razz:


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## Lycwolf (Mar 15, 2010)

Considering I do a ton of out of state driving, I love my GPS. I also use printed maps as a backup. I save presets for hotels and other places. I am not distracted by having to look at a map every 5 minutes to see where I am. Srsly... Don't be hating on GPS... There are some places around here I would NOT want to get lost in, and Atlanta def has some of those as well.


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## thetakara (Mar 15, 2010)

I need GPS. Plain and simple. I don't even know my way around my neighborhood. D: I get lost going down the street. :|


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## ShadowWolf401 (Mar 16, 2010)

dragon-architect said:


> ...when GoogleMaps exists for completely free? XD


 
Yeah but Google Maps wont tell me to, "Left Turn in One Mile" now will it.


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## Lycwolf (Mar 19, 2010)

On this note... I got my GPS stolen a couple days ago... So yeah, good thing I've atleast been to FCN before so I know the area a little bit.


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## yummynbeefy (Mar 20, 2010)

dragon-architect said:


> " Well this time, I have Plan A, and I also have a Plan B and a Plan C for the first half of my Thursday trek through downtown Atlanta (yes, I could take the I-285 bypass from I-75 to I-85, but then I'll completely miss the Hilton entirely by several miles). Then I also have a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C for the second half (getting back onto I-85).


why are plans B & C always the better ones?


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## Darkwolfy502 (Mar 21, 2010)

thetakara said:


> I need GPS. Plain and simple. I don't even know my way around my neighborhood. D: I get lost going down the street. :|



What happened to sense of direction?...


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## Raineyangel81 (Mar 21, 2010)

I have a GPS for work.  Sometimes people live on streets that don't show up on the GPS, so I go to google.  Sometimes it doesn't show up on google so I go to map quest.  Sometimes it doesn't show up on map quest, so I call the clients and ask for directions.

The GPS is great and I use it if I don't have access to the internet in order to print directions, but it is faulty and it has given me the long route to take rather than the fastest way.  

After I go to someplace once, I can usually get there again without using gps or directions again.  

Is the GPS worth it?  I don't know, seems like most cell phones have apps now for gps, so you don't necessarily have to get one.  I have a handheld GPS to track my tracks when I'm out working, but I use a map/compass to navigate.


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