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May 30, 2007

Question of the Day: Do you have a navigation system in your car? If so, how useful is it to you?

My first exposure to car navigations systems happened when I saw one in a taxi in Tokyo back in 1991. And when I went shopping during that trip in Akihabara, a navigation CD of New York City was just not available. What I never did understand is why it took so long for navigation systems to be offered in the United States.

While the user interface for car navigation systems have evolved over the years, I’m wondering how often when using a car navigation system has someone said to themselves, “this is the wrong way to get there.” And how often does someone wish for a car to be able to “learn” the way they prefer to drive to/from their most frequent destinations?

So while I enjoy using a car navigation system to help route me to a destination that I was not familiar with how to get to on my own, I have also enjoyed using a navigation system to “get lost” and in effect as a way to learn the back roads of a new neighborhood.

Which leads me to today’s Question of the Day: Do you have a navigation system in your car? If so, how useful is it to YOU?


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Posted by jeff on May 30, 2007 07:36 AM | Permalink

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Comments

I'm a recent convert to phone-based nav systems-- they've only just become actually usable, IMO.

Google Maps is great in its ability to use flexible syntax (pizza 10016, howard and 3rd SF, etc). Important for quick input/output.

Telenav costs a subscription, but really shines in its ability to re-route you for real-time traffic. Others don't do that as well (or at all).

Posted by: Ken Berger at June 1, 2007 12:37 PM

I have a TomTom GO and use it a lot. Would rather buy a cheaper car next time I have to buy one than one that does not have a car navigation system. It may not be perfect, but it's really really useful.

Posted by: Lenz at May 31, 2007 07:46 AM

Posted by: brett at May 31, 2007 06:48 AM

GPS systems are kind of like Microsoft Word. Just because you have it and use it doesn't mean you'll use it well. For example, I've been stupid enough to drive a massive loop around Boston under the advice of a GPS unit to find the Cheer restaurant that was only blocks from where I started my meandering journey.

I'd like to see models automatically update with new addresses and POIs on a subscription based model. That would make them more valuable to users and build an ongoing revenue stream for GPS companies.

Posted by: Ed Kohler at May 30, 2007 12:56 PM

I have an inexpensive windshield mount one in my car, and I couldn't live without it. Sure for day to day travel around town its unnecessary but inevitably once a week or more I have to go somewhere I'm not familiar with or, just am not sure the quickest way to get there.

I don't think we are that far away from these becoming standard features in even mid level cars. Once you have one you never want to do without.

Posted by: Wolfman-K at May 30, 2007 12:02 PM

I don't have one in my car.
However I have a navigation system through my cell phone and a blue tooth attachable GPS device.
Through this I get directions, TMS etc.
How useful it is, well to be really honest the main use I have it for is to point out and warn me of traffic/speed control cameras. I.e. I get navigation assistance on known roads just so that I will be warned if I am speeding when approaching a camera.

Other than that I use it occationally to find my way around, but more than not to as Jeff mentions to get lost! :)

A big value of the cell phone being involved is the automatic update with modern and up to date maps.

Posted by: Daniel Glifberg at May 30, 2007 11:41 AM

I'm still a landmarks-and-paper-maps (plus MapQuest) type of person, so haven't felt a strong need for a car-based nav device. The best thing I've seen in the navigation area recently is the Google Maps add-in for the BlackBerry. I've used that more than once to save time when I've made a wrong turn and need to get back on course. I admit that the BlackBerry requires me to pull off the road in order to access the map, but that seems like a small cost, given that I was headed in the wrong direction anyway.

What would be most helpful to me, and, I suspect, to a lot of other commuters, would be a nav system that's really well tied-in to accurate traffic information. There are systems that tie maps to traffic info, but my experience has been that the traffic info isn't too reliable. Perhaps there's a good system out there, but I haven't seen it.

Posted by: Dr. Question at May 30, 2007 10:14 AM

We recently sold our cars so I cannot say we have one in car but we do still have one. As noted it is not to useful for driving where you are familiar but it is great for adventures. We took ours on our trip to Hawaii over Xmas and it was great. From everything to a 5am a trip to a Star Market to exploring Haleakala it was great to know exactly where we were and how to get home (not too hard on a small island mind you). I also like to take it with me on road trips as well and drive in zoomed out map mode just to get a feel for what is around.

Posted by: Jesse Chenard at May 30, 2007 08:54 AM

My parents vehicles all have them so on most work trips (family business) we have on. When I bought my new truck I looked into getting one, from what I'm told the current units the Chev is putting in their vehicles isn't real good. The map coverage only had the major areas in North America. I did just buy a TomTom Go 910 and it is amazing. It has North America and Europe maps out of the box and is portable enough to take with you if your going over seas. The options on it are amazing too. Bluetooth to sync to you phone so you can use it as a speaker phone, also to grab traffic data (paid service), a built in 20GB hard drive you can put MP3's and picturs on and you can get a cable to connect your iPod to and and control from the tomtom! I think the best way to go is an aftermarket system and TomTom is a great choice! Oh and I agree with Chris, just the ability to tell WHEN you will arrive somewhere is a great feature.

Posted by: Bill Dey at May 30, 2007 08:24 AM

Never had the pleasure but have used GPS to chart our trips down south once.

Only did that the once, but I can see how it would be useful.

Posted by: ted at May 30, 2007 08:15 AM

I have a Garmin nuvi 350 that I bought a few months ago and I love it! It does have a couple of behaviors I would like to change, but overall it does a pretty good job. We spent a month in Florida this past winter, and it was a incredibly helpful for getting places and doing things without hassle. We did a lot of exploring and looking at real-estate, so having it definitely improved our vacation there, because it removed a whole set of issues about finding places and getting back. You just never worry about finding a place or getting lost anymore. You don't even have to work at it! It does all the work.

Also, I've been going to Boston and NYC recently and that's where a nav system really pulls its weight. True, it may not give you the "best" route (whatever that means) but it will get you there and back. I'm a lot more familiar with Boston than I am NYC, so sometimes, I'll go my preferred way for part of the route. But as you go along, it simply recalculates and you can start following again when you want.

You've given me an idea, actually. I should do a product-review video blog post on the nuvi.

Posted by: joe c at May 30, 2007 08:13 AM

I've got one in my Prius - it comes with Option Pack 5. I use it all the time, especially for figuring out estimated arrival time.

Posted by: Christopher S. Penn at May 30, 2007 08:01 AM

I don't have one in my car, but I did learn land navigation practices while serving in the US Army Signal Corps.

I have never really been "lost".

I think that every rental car should have one, after all, the typical client of a rental car agency is someone who is from out of town.

If they (rental companies) were "smart" they would sell advertising to all of the local places of interest and have those pop-up when in proximity (via GPS co-ords). etc. etc. etc.

Posted by: Michael Bailey at May 30, 2007 07:52 AM

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