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| 2009 | |
| May | |
| Sun May 17 12:37:39 2009 Caveat Emptor: in-dash GPS |
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| Sun May 17 12:37:39 2009 Caveat Emptor: in-dash GPS My awesome, horribly anachronistic in-dash GPS unit. |
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| A few years ago, I got horribly lost while driving in the wilderness, scouting
for land. I blew a tire (which I fixed, but then was vulnerable to
another flat), and almost ran out of gas. I wasn't in any real danger (I had
food and water and, of course, a cell phone) but it was annoying and
expensive in time and money.
So I decided to get a good GPS unit so I would never get lost again. I picked up one for hiking, but it was awkward to use in the car. Around a year ago, my car was broken into and the stereo stolen, so I thought it was a good time to upgrade. In-dash GPS units have been around for a while, but I wanted one with good audio/mp3 support, and (most importantly) the user interface had to be elegant. I'd looked at in-dash GPS units before, but the user interface was always terrible. However, I did find an in-dash GPS unit with integrated audio and an elegant UI. I forget the exact model, but it's one of these but without DVD support. It's probably the best car stereo I've had! The user interface isn't perfect, but it's better than most of them out there. My parents could never figure out the stereo when they borrowed my car, for instance. Now they can. The GPS has been helpful. I haven't gotten lost yet, but it has helped me find routes that I wouldn't have otherwise tried, and it's made navigating around the city easier as well. However, you should never, ever buy in an in-dash GPS unit. In-dash GPS units were probably obsolete 2-3 years ago, but no one noticed. Now it is very clear. You are a sucker to buy one now! The main reason not to buy? Cell phones with GPS can do the job better and cheaper. And if you get a GPS-enabled cell phone, you can use it anywhere, not just your car. What's the big difference? In-dash GPS units are offline. The in-dash GPS unit is great, but it relies on its own local database, which leads to two problems. First, the database can get out of date. Has a new restaurant opened? Has a road been closed? You won't know, because you've got the data snapshot from 18 or more months ago. The second problem is that the offline GPS can't tell you about traffic. Is there massive congestion ahead? Should you pull off and enjoy an hour in a restaurant somewhere, or is this just a temporary slowdown of traffic? Your offline unit will have no clue. Online units are able to get traffic data from multiple sources. You may have an in-dash GPS unit that has some sort of online support, but odds are it is a custom connection and you pay extra for it. Just get a GPS-enabled cell phone! Then your connection is covered by the basic Internet connection, and isn't a custom fee. Besides, even if your GPS unit does have some online support, there is another problem: In-dash GPS units are a small market. Everyone is getting GPS-enabled phones. Developers are outdoing each other to come up with features and easy-to use GPS programs. If you don't like your GPS software, odds are you can update your phone or find another program. In-dash GPS units are proprietary. The makers want to provide useful products, but their goal is to lock you in and make money off you. If the user interface is terrible (a common problem) you have no recourse. As an example, I can't get the altitude from my in-dash GPS unit unless the parking brake is on (!). I can't imagine what led to that decision. But I'm stuck with it. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are a bunch of user interface decisions made as part of a GPS display, and if you use an in-dash GPS, you will have little or no control over those. It might be acceptable if in-dash GPS units were cheap, and consumers put up with the restrictions because they were a bargain. But in-dash GPS units are expensive! It's much cheaper to buy a GPS-enabled phone and a multi-year wireless contract. And all good phones today also play MP3s. So don't make my mistake. Just find a way to mount your phone in your car. It's better and cheaper. Comments |
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