Directions
Tis the season for making new year’s resolutions again. Some would be able to keep them. Some won’t. I personally gave up on making them years ago. But that doesn’t mean I don’t recommend making them to others.
However, this is not about resolutions. This is about devices and gadgets that help us with directions. By directions I mean maps and stuff.
The other week, I had the opportunity to overhear a conversation between some ladies at a mall. They were talking about how easy it was now to get to their destination because of the GPS type apps on their cellphones or their SUV’s GPS. There was no need to stop and ask someone for directions anymore. But I also overheard that there wasn’t any excuse for being late for work either because the apps they used also told them how much time it takes to get from point A to point B, with or without heavy traffic.
Before overhearing that conversation, I never took notice of our SUV’s GPS. To me it was a useless device since I only travelled to and from point A to point B within our adjacent towns as part of my mom and/or wife chores and responsibilities.
So, for the first time, I used it and tried to see if it would be useful to me. Then I realized one thing that I noticed with all the other instructional-type devices we use. The tone was very polite and had problems with pronunciation of certain non-English words. It was then that questions poured into my mind as I slowly learned to appreciate the GPS. Here are some of my observations.
- The tone of voice was very polite. If I was a man who had a boom box in my hood to impress those who come within spitting distance of my car, I would prefer a nasty sounding GPS. Something that says “You can cruise [name of street] until you reach a rad looking statue, then ease slowly onto the curb to park.” Instead of “The parking area is this many meters away. In this many meters turn right.” So I wondered, are there different versions of the GPS for different moods or personalities? Or do they only offer them in “polite mode”.
- Is there a “track your kids or spouse” version of the GPS? Is there an app somewhere which would allow the user to see exactly where the car is? So that if your kids borrow the car and say they were going to school, you can actually see on your mobile device or even television the borrowed car being driven to school and not somewhere else. This is also very useful in hunting erring spouses.
There are other things inside the car that tells you what to do but gives you the option to obey or not.
- The “wear your seat belt warning light”. I can always not put on a seat belt regardless of how long the beep is. Why not prevent the car from even moving while it can sense that the passengers have not yet put on their seat belts. That would definitely force anyone to wear the seat belts before traveling.
Having these apps and devices are fun and convenient. Why not have more, so they say, flavors for each to suit other users’ needs and preferences. More flavors would result to possibly more sales from markets who think of these as luxuries than necessities. And that would be a very good thing.
Happy new year to everyone!
May the new year bring more flavors to our lives to enjoy.
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