What, no mention of cell phones & nonstop texting? Tweeting more often than you blink? Can't walk to the mailbox?

GPS is way down on my list of peeves. It serves a purpose. You certainly don't carry maps of every place you go, well, I don't anyway. And actually it was interesting during a bad snowstorm last winter I used the GPS as a sort of "instrumental flight rules" to determine where the road was as I traveled in an unfamiliar area.

I don't think it's so much a dependance, bur rather being so spoiled. People seldom cook, but have to have showplace kitchens. Delivery and drive thrus are the norm. I couldn't believe the high percentage of people who eat breakfast at McDonalds every morning.

I enjoy watching peoples' reaction when there is a power outage. The near panic in some areas while those of us who have camped and lived without power for weeks on end find it rather refreshing to be able to see the stars at night.

When my GPS told the DH and I "You can not get to the destination from here." I pitched the thing out the window.
TomTom GO Bye-Bye, ByeBye TomTom you get there any way you want.

YES I will read the maps and plan the route and ask locals for directions if I need. My kids and grandkids have learned to use the original paperworks and they can all use a compass! The electronic things are just toys and they know life isn't battery operated.!!!!

Though when navigating in a never before been too big city alone the Garmin is better for inter city directions. It does help to not have to pull over to check the map or ask directions in an unknown area. There are some really nasty neighborhoods in big cities.

CT

I work for the State of California. Each year, by mid-January, every agency has to file its Disaster Recovery Plan with the Department of Finance. So, right now we're in the middle of doing "table top exercises" to determine who needs to do what, and when, should a disaster strike. We have to have a plan for all sorts of occurrences. What if the levy breaks and Sacramento is flooded? What if there's an earthquake? A major fire? A pandemic illness? Terrorism? The Recovery Plan can and will vary depending upon what caused the problem to begin with. And it's not surprising that a lot of the functionality of the agency depends on the information technology infrastructure. Every Division in the agency has to have its own DRP, and then the agency as a whole has one.

And it's not just businesses that need to have these plans. Each and every family should have a plan, too. The KT's own DollyDoLots just went through a horrible ordeal with a fire and forced evacuation; many other KTers have suffered through horrible weather and have gone without power for days on end.

Just like you can't prepare a Last Will and Testament for someone after they've died, you can't prepare for an emergency after it has happened. The Boy Scouts knew what they were doing when they adopted "Be Prepared" as their slogan.

I'm adding a link to a web site where you can get all sorts of wonderful stuff to help you and your family be prepared.

Here is a link that might be useful: Get Ready Gear

Oh, I like my GPS, but I love having maps along. The reason I gave bigbaby directions to my house, cause two out of three GPS units send their owners to a wrong house. Also, I know the roads, and most send you the route with ALL the stop lights. :)

Maps rule. GPS are nice toys.

Moni

I prefer maps too.

Anne

I have said for a number of years that kids are growing up not able to tell time with a clock with hands, nor tie their shoes, just velcro them or leave untied. Calculators are great but they still need to learn to do math the old fashioned way.

I rely on maps. My folks moved a lot during my childhood and I was the navigator, reading the maps for my Dad. I'm really surprised at the number of people that cannot read a map.

I like maps and anything I can pick up and read. Love magazines, newspapers.
I told DH on the weekend, when we were out using the GPS, that people will rely on these instead of their memory. Much like speed-dial.
There are a lot of people who don't know anyone's phone number.
My constant beef and pet peeve is that kids don't know how to spell, grammar sucks, can't do simple math.....all because of technology and they're lazy, and not taught to do these things. University kids that can't spell. Grrrrr
I can't imagine them writing a business proposal full of "ur,2,brb, etc etc. etc."

I remember last year there was a picture of a tractor-trailer that was stuck under a bridge and his trailer was crushed. The road was a secondary road, and he was "following the GPS".

I use it as a toy, don't want to get dependent on it at all. It's a Garmin so according to everyone here, it's the most accurate.

I love our GPS, we don't need it all that often but when we have it has been a valuable tool. They are extremely useful to sales people that cover a wide territory, they detail they have is beyond most maps. It doesn't mean that I don't use maps, they surely are a big help, especially when traveling or planning a trip, how else would know what is in the vicinity!

Friends of ours are in a local geocaching club, they have a ball with their GPS!

People said the same thing about calculators, and sadly....I think they were right. So many can't add and subtract the simplest of equations.

Well, I love most things that help me get around, do my work, make my day enjoyable. That is not to say I don't love reading and can read a map. I love my cell phone and my computer. I even love my riding mower. I told my girls a very long time ago that they would have something in your car one day that would help you find your way! Who knew. I don't own a vehicle so I don't have one. I do know how and am prepared for emergencies. I have cooked and baked on and in a fireplace insert, rather fun. So I like the best of both worlds.

Sue

The bus driver on my last bus tour uses one. I think he is still in the testing mode with it. I hear it giving him directions. He said it is only as good as what the user puts in it. One of the passengers gave him his for comparison and they were the same except for one instance and two different arrival addresses were put in for Yellowstone entrances.

You're right, Ron. As it is, we would be up a creek if everything crashed. I was just thinking the other day about kids learning to tell time. I wonder if they still learn the old way?

As far as our Garmin, it was easier to read the map than program the darned thing on the last trip. I didn't have exact addresses.

Ditto what Coloredthumb said:

Though when navigating in a never before been too big city alone the Garmin is better for inter city directions. It does help to not have to pull over to check the map or ask directions in an unknown area. There are some really nasty neighborhoods in big cities.

This is why I bought one when I was in Phoenix a couple of winters ago.

I also copied Moni's directions in case I get to go down there.
Leslie

when the kids were small and we trip tik from trip a, i always got them their own set.

i did get a gps for dd1. she's a msw, and has to make home visits in some strange places not on local maps...but when we go anyplace i rely on a map...and cell phone, lol...

Gotta have the Garmin!

But not for the car.
I cannot geocache with a map....