Why I think GPS should be a standard feature in every single car made

Earlier today:

I'm fueling up at the gas station. A lady pulls up behind me to put gas in her car. I finish pumping my gas, go inside to pay, then come back out. I get in my vehicle, start it and am about to head out. The lady behind me sees that I'm ready to pull forward and leave but then backs up herself and heads out (guess she couldn't wait the extra thirty seconds).

I'm on my way home and I know my route. The GPS has allowed me to try several different ways home and I pick the one I always go by. I turn down a side street and who do I see? The same lady turning around because she's lost - and she's a local.

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It simply amazes me to no end how many people don't know where they're going in their own home town. I am hoping that the auto manufacturers will wise up and start putting GPS as a standard - or at least an optional - feature in all cars, including the smaller ones. I can honestly say (if I haven't said it enough) that GPS is the best damn vehicle accessory I've ever purchased, hands down. I use it so much that if given the choice between radio or GPS, I'd take GPS without hestitation, tunes be damned.

Right now you can get GPS on most middle to high end cars and trucks, but it's still not available on most smaller affordable cars. If you go back through my blog entries here, you'll see I'm a huge fan of GPS. It is undoubtedly the best thing to happen to driving in a very long time. I recommend to anyone to get a GPS. You can now buy one for just over 300 bucks.

Some would say "Pff.. I'll just read a map." Everyone says that until they actually use GPS and then they never go back. Repeat: They never go back. Reading a map compared to GPS is analogous to using tin cans tied with a string compared to a phone. The difference is like night and day.

Published 2006 Jan 8