I’m 37, and yes. Along with the laptop I took to college in 2007, I bought a copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips that came with a USB GPS receiver. The software itself worked fairly well, the GPS receiver worked badly twice and then completely gave up. Used that software for several years to print maps and directions on paper to refer to on the road until Google Maps surpassed it.
A friend of mine insisted on bringing a GPS for our bicycle trip through Europe.
From the beginning, the GPS took center stage.
At every fork in the road, instead of broadly riding in the right direction, we had to stop so he could determine which was the correct path on the tiny black-and-white display.
And half the time, he was wrong. The punch line came when a bike path he found on his device turned out to be a stair going up a 200m high hill. Took us 2 hours to get up there cause we first had to carry our bikes up, then our luggage.The first half of the trip he spent hours trouble-shooting the connector he had built himself to keep the GPS batteries charged off the hub dynamo.
The second half of the trip we had to book camp-sites or hostels most of the time, instead of just sleeping under the stars, because the charger still didn’t work, but THE DEVICE NEEDS POWER.tl/dr: it sucked a lot of fun out of the trip. And it made me avoid all electronics on bicycle trips ever since.
Now when I ride, my phone stays in my pocket (for emergencies). I navigate by the sun when it’s shining and a compass otherwise.
At the end of the day, I’ll look at a paper map to see if I’m broadly in the right place and to plan the next day.
The only time I’ll use my phone to navigate is when the bike breaks down or I run out of water, to find the quickest way to get help.Yes. I took a trip to Ireland and rented a car. I had a Garmin GPS unit which I purchased for the trip and was extremely helpful.
I remember the first time I saw GPS units at the electronics store. It seemed like some crazy military grade thing from a movie.
Yeah, it was one of these when I was in the army: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Lightweight_GPS_Receiver
This didn’t necessarily precede civilian GPS devices, but this was during the accuracy “embargo.” Certainly though, GPS devices available to the public were cost prohibitive at that time. Later, someone bought me a Garmin for because they thought it would be useful to me in the military. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I’d never need it because of the existence of very accurate military GPS devices. It was a very thoughtful gift from a family member who was a veteran
Yes, palm pilot or whatever that thing was called. It worked pretty well.
I still remember printing out google maps directions, then missing one turn and then being completely lost.
The number of times I had to stop and recalibrate with the paper map was high!
Internal thought process: “psh, it’s not just over-35’s who remember the dawn of GPS, I’m only… thirty… six…” 😩
I don’t have deeply shocking memories about using GPS for the first time, it was just this gadget my dad got for road trips so we didn’t have to deal with an atlas. However, I still remember being a passenger in a moving car using my first smartphone, watching our progress on Google Maps and feeling like I had gained the ability to see around corners. Technological progress seemed unambiguously positive and my phone just kept getting more useful.
Alternate question: do any of you (maybe a bit older than 35) remember the last time you bought an updated paper map for your area, or one for a road trip? They used to be at most checkout lanes in many stores.
I can already hear the “maps on paper? How could you find anything?”
I bought a couple usgs maps of the local mountains about 8 years ago, but that was the last time. Used to buy the map book for Michigan every few years when I lived there. Had pretty detailed prints of all the roads, waterways, state lands, and even marked hiking trails. Great for finding streams for fishing and places to camp. But now printed maps seem hard to find. Local gas stations don’t have them, and I’ve noticed that rest stops on the highway don’t give them out anymore either. Used to hit rest stops in every state I drove through when traveling to get new ones for the glove box.
Yes, I get paper maps of my area. For hiking, but I think it still counts.
The last time I used a paper map for driving? Probably early aughts
I would guess that hiking or trail maps are probably much more detailed than a road map, so that makes sense that it would still be a thing, although certainly digital versions have made some dent in them. Electronics are a bit more susceptible to the environment and the need for power though, so maybe not as much for those reasons.
Yep, right on. For a day hike or simple trail, I’ll trust my phone maps and Garmin GPS. Anything beyond that, I’m bringing a map and compass as a backup because they don’t require power and the good ones still work even if wet.
Even for a simple day hike, I’ll usually print out a map because it’s quicker than using my phone.
Maybe five years ago?
I like having paper maps in the “oh shit” bag
No, because if I need information I stop at information places at the border and get a map for free. Sometimes you can get whole guidebooks full of maps and directions and interpretive information for free. I picked up maps or guidebooks multiple times this year.
In 2001, I rented a van in Japan. Digital mapping is essential for Japan, because most streets have no names, and house numbering is almost completely random, often based on the year they were built rather than any linear sequence.
It was incredible to me to be able to punch in a destination and see the map. At the time, I don’t think it could speak the directions to you. And you could search for nearby restaurants and gas stations too!
I did pizza delivery for years without GPS.
We had a really early one in the 90s, like way earlier than anyone else we knew, in a car we bought from some rich guy. We only used it once or twice as a novelty as my Dad always insisted he knew better. Plus it had its maps loaded up using some CD which was really out of date and it wasn’t like you could type in McDonalds and it would take you to the closest one, you had to put the whole address in and even then I think it wouldn’t find it half the time.
The first one I got was a gift in the 00s and it was bloody awful. Once I t turned me off a perfectly straight road to drive through a graveyard and then put me back on the road I had been on. Another time it turned me off and sent me down the only toll-road in the UK, then got me off at the first exit and put me back on the toll-road in the opposite direction to get me off at the place I’d got into it earlier. I had to pay twice to go nowhere and it added five minutes to my journey.
Just to add, when people came round our house in the late 90s my Dad would make me turn on the computer to show them MS Autoroute, which was an offline piece of software that was used to generate routes, basically what Google Maps does now with directions, but it would just give you something to print out. Really useful for the day and you could even get it to estimate how much the fuel would cost, etc.
I couldn’t tell you the specifics, but back in the 1990’s, we had GPS devices that just had an LCD read-out of your latitude and longitude, so you could find your position on a paper map. They were on the market as survey devices, but were also useful for wilderness travelers.
It’s hard to recall exact dates, because the devices developed incrementally, and navigation mode on Google Maps didn’t spring into existence ask at once.
I do, the GPS maps was of course outdated, and brought us to the most random mud trail in the area.
It had potential, but definitely a lot of things to improve.
On my first smart phone ca. 2014, I had Here Maps (a Nokia product I think?). I didn’t have any data plan, and that mapping service didn’t require it. I don’t think I ever used it, but that may be the first. Otherwise, earlier this year I used my work phone and whatever it has for navigation. I hated it 😅 I clearly liked knowing directions more then one turn out.
I originally read this comment and thought “that’s so recent, I’m sure I first used GPS way before that!” then I did the math. I was right around that time too with my semi smart phone and the gps being very vicinity oriented and not precise at all.
I recall it thinking I was a block over from where i was one time and it repeatedly told me to u-turn for some reason. Not great times. Especially in the dead of winter directly after a good snow that brought down some trees and closed some roads, there was not an easy detour in that area and the gps wasn’t easy to redirect.
