Have people forgotten how to read maps?

[Freefaller]

I learnt to map read doing my military training - so I find them easy to read, and use them often. I've got tomtom on my phone which I use now, but I don't rely on it 100% as I tend to have a pretty good sense of direction and once I've been somewhere once I remember how to get there. Maps are really useful - it's great to be able to see something on a big sheet of paper - makes it easier to plan - satnav is good for once you've got a trip planned or big cities, but it's easy to be distracted by it. Saying that, it's easy to become lazy and use it - and why not use it, that's what it's there for.

 

[lordrobs]

I've never read a map for my own use since I started driving.

I used to use Auto Route, then online route finders then I bought my first sat nav.

I've read a map as a passenger before and whilst its not a problem its more of a chore than any of the other methods I've mentioned so I wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

 

[Flying_V]

Got my TomTom a few weeks ago to cope with the London commute (Go 520). Its been invaluable in avoiding the traffic and showing me new routes that would have taken weeks to try. Not infallible though, sometimes I ignore the advice as the route given clearly isn't quicker.

 

[rG-tom]

Oh and then there's people who get in the car after work and plug the satnav straight in. Sort it out guys, you look like useless tools, you must know the way home surely?

My TomTom connects to my headunit via a line in and has a 20gb inbuilt hdd for mp3s, so i gets plugged in no matter where I'm going Also, it tells me where speed cameras are too, so can be handy even if i know the way as if a new camera gets put up, it tells me as long as I keep it updated

SatNav is a fantastic tool, but you do get idiots who follow its every word and ignore lane markings etc which really annoy me.

 

[Jez]

This is pretty much what I use it for. I drive to Southampton quite often and know the route backwards and don't need Satnav.

I still prefer to have it, becuase it's handy having the exact lie of the road on the screen and also exactly how many miles are left.

I do the exact same thing, i leave the sound off but always have the nav on showing me how many miles there are, how long i have left on the road, lots of info which is just nice to have. I dont care about the directions.

 

[Trojan]

I've been meaning to pick up a satnav unit for years, but haven't been able to justify the purchase yet as I simply don't do enough driving to unknown places. Plus I've got a good sense of direction so that if I've been somewhere once, I'll pretty much not need a map again.

 

[rG-tom]

I do the exact same thing, i leave the sound off but always have the nav on showing me how many miles there are, how long i have left on the road, lots of info which is just nice to have. I dont care about the directions.

Actually yea, I forgot about that one it's nice to see the road layout ahead properly etc too

 

[Demon]

Is this thread for real??

I think most people can read a map, it's not rocket science, you don't need qualifications..

I actually think anyone who clings to 'maps' over a sat-nav, considering it's advantages and forgetting the urban myths, is clearly a sandwhich short of a picnic.. the fact is most satnavs have a map mode, and carry detailed maps of the entire UK with every road on it..

I'm surprised you actually own a PC and are on these forums when the good old letter and postal service would do the job..

I do the exact same thing, i leave the sound off but always have the nav on showing me how many miles there are, how long i have left on the road, lots of info which is just nice to have. I dont care about the directions.

And on top of that, even when you know where you are going, when you suddenly get an announcement that the road is closed, or you come to the back of a traffic jam, you can just instantly hit 'avoid roadblock' or 'find alternative'..
with the breadth of travelling I do, I'd need to carry 3 tons of detailed maps to ensure I was always covered..

 

[Jonny69]

This kind of thing happens with any kind of technology, you get people in threads saying how 'cool' they are because they don't need it. You know the type, that post in every single sat nav thread or a mobile phone thread saying "LOOK AT ME!!! I just want a phone that makes calls!!!!111 I'm so l33t!!".

I got so fed up with it I don't have a mobile any more

As a turnaround, in threads like this there's always fanboys, haters and the clever pointing out who's who in the thread posters, so now the thread is complete

 

[pitchfork]

I have a good sense of direction, can read a map (only just got a satnav), only use the satnav as a speed camera detector when I want to give it some or when i'm lost.

 

[Fr0dders]

I've never used sat-nav as my primary means of navigation, i always read the map and follow road signs. Sat-navs are useless and 9 times out of 10 take you in completely the wrong direction.

if you've never used one, why are you commenting on something you blatently know nothing about ?

if you'd bothered to do a bit of reading on the subject before wading in with your pointless comments, you'd realise that for the past couple of years, Sat Navs have had full 8 digi postcode input. Thats why we have postcodes, so we know the difference between boston lincoln and the other boston

trouble with the press is, they jump on these stories about ambulances being taken on 300 mile detours and through rivers because of satnavs, without ever pausing to contemplate who idiotic they must be to do so. Satnavs arent useless, their operators are.

 

[Von Luck]

Maps are great for planning journeys and making general common-sense decisions on routes (as satnav does sometimes make some bizarre choices), however there is no comparison when it comes to ease of use and safety when you're driving solo.

Getting to an unfamiliar street in the middle of a large city with just a map (oh AND an A to Z needed now of course, as standard road maps don't give enough detail) is a nightmare. Writing a simple list of directions is easy for a motorway-based journey, but not when you're navigating around loads of residential streets. You have to keep pulling over to check the map and if you get lost, then it's time to locate the street name in the index, locate it on the map and plan the best route from there.

Satnav, turn it on, enter destination and then safely follow voice and visual prompts to destination, job done.

Not to mention integration with traffic alerts and dynamic re-routing around jams.

 

[wassap]

I know where all the major roads are generally, its just tomtom when i need to find a specific road or something, it saves printing out directions etc and having stuff all over the seat when you are driving.

 

[GarethDW]

The company I work for has several large offices in Swindon, and our website has the postcode for one of the offices I don't work at. I find it funny when sales reps phone me up 10 mins before an appointment saying that they're at the wrong place. I ask them if they just put the postcode in their satnav and ignored the directions I'd previously emailed them, and they all fess up to it eventually.

Also, the A419 in Swindon has had a lot of roadworks done to it, including a new flyover... but the number of people who get off near the hospital and go round the roundabout just to rejoin the A419 makes me laugh too

Some people are too lazy to read the road ahead of them and blindly follow the advice of their satnav There was an article in the Times not so long ago about muppets near Malmesbury driving into a ford just cause Tomtom told 'em to.

Used in the right circumstances, however, they're very useful aids.

 

[Richard_16v]

I don't use satnav, I can read a map.

Also, I don't use a cooker as I can sit outside in the garden and make a fire with some wood and a flint, I can then cook the rabbit I caught from next doors garden and make socks out of the rabbit skin

It's called Evolution, learn to work with all the latest and greatest tools

 

[Majago]

We have sat-nav, but mostly for the wife

I did use it once, on a journey I have done before, and I made a wrong turn for no reason at all, twice

I much prefer working out my route using tinterweb and a map to be honest, and I very rarely get lost.

We've got a sat-nav for the same reason.

I also prefer using things such as route-planner and maps however I do find the sat-nav useful for locating places in built up areas where you would otherwise need to refer to maps etc more regularly.

On a side note, a friend of the wife genuinely ended up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne instead of Newcastle-under-lyme due to blindly following the sat-nav I have no idea how this happened as surely you'd notice roadsigns etc.

 

[Liverpool-Lad]

Using maps adds that element of fun to journeys I find. Thinking for yourself, decision making and so on.

 

[DannyDan]

Jesus, get with the times. Maps are for those stuck in a time warp and still living there lives in the days of yesteryear. TomTom > Fubling over a big map

If a TomTom is going to make your life easier then why on earth would you choose to use a map.

It's called progression

Exactly. Maps are useless, throw them away.

 

[Demon]

For years I did use maps, and had to travel to customers quite a bit.. when I did get a sat-nav, I still took a planned route printed out and my usual AA Maps with me.. I Have to say though that slowly but surely the sat-nav has proved reliable enough that I have out the AA map in the boot, and it's never surfaced in 2-3 years..

I know that they aren't perfect, and do have very minor foibles, and can take you on little detours, or just not be 100% upto date (like maps), but with just a modicum of common sense it works 99.9% of the time..

I do always check the destination against a companies website 'directions' as I do find getting to the door via postcode on industrial estates does leave room for improvement, but since you can just point to a road and select "navigate there" it more then gets around any postcode issues..

 

[Vertigo]

we'll see who's making progress when all the sat-navers are sat on the jammed motorway following their tomtom's useless directions when I take a quick look on the map and decide to move onto the unblocked A roads.

We'll see who gets there first when your A roads are also blocked but my nav automatically routes me around the problems.

Of course I could use a map but why would I when satnav is easier and safer? I could also wind my windows up and down by hand, control my ventilation manually, switch my lights and wipers on and off myself, hell I could even sing rather than listening to MP3s!

It's called progress. Satnav is quicker, easier & safer than reading a map. It also happens to know your location at all times - a map ain't much use if you don't know where you are - and some systems will automatically warn you of traffic congestion and route you around it if possible.