Mephistos

GPS vs Smartphones

By Ray on November 23rd, 2009

Anyone asking for GPS for Christmas this year? If you are I would ask you think twice about it and probably check it off your list. Consider this for just a second, most smart phones and even more than a few phones from the generation before, have a built-in GPS navigation system of some sort of another. Take it a step further when you consider the GPS is a basically a single (or perhaps double) function device for at least $100 if not closer to $150 or more.

I am sure right now a few of you are thinking first, what the heck am I talking about? Well GPS is a device that using satellite technology can locate your position with a remarkable degree of accuracy. Then using that technology it can give you step by step directions to another specific location or general area. Those specific locations may or may not be able to be found by a web type of interface by asking for pizza in somewhere, USA. Further, the most recent round of devices offers a bonus of traffic routing information – specifically aimed at finding high congestion areas and routing around those.

My question is simply this though? Given that the standalone devices start at around $100 and the more advanced ones head up to around $150 and beyond, why? I can understand it if you are not a cell phone user or are still using the cell technology from three years back and just not interested in an update (well the latter, I doubt you will keep for much longer to be honest – but that is a different story). Bottom line is most of the new mid-range and upper-end phones have some sort of GPS technology built into them or with the smart phones have an application that will support some sort of it. Indeed, the I-Phone has had such for a while and the new Android phone has the same kind of technology, reviews perhaps even giving it an edge.

One argument I suppose could be the additional expense of a data plan that you need with the smart phones. However, a lot of carriers are requiring those on smart phones these days. Beyond that, if you are getting a higher end phone don’t you want that anyway? Take it one step beyond that though, you get the technology including in the phone without shelling out the $100 or more for a standalone single app device.

And I will take the argument one step further. The environment. Thing of the resources used to create the single use device and compare that to the multi-use phone. Now consider the single use devices in a landfill or other type of final resting place. Now imagine if none of those existed, but were instead including on a phone that most folks are migrating toward already. Also consider that those devices have limited ability to be upgraded, where as new things come along in an app it is easy to do an update to the system to get the newest bells and whistles!

Okay, I know that some folks are going to continue to pursue the purchase of a device that is stand alone like the GPS and there will be hangers-on just as there in some other technologies. The one that comes to mind I will leave alone, but I am sure there are some people who still lament coal-fired steam engines and telegraph systems too, and quite possibly a few that miss their star charts and sextant.