What is the purpose of some POIs?

I was wondering the same thing. I guess it is just a hobby for some people.

there are a few reasons ...

1) someone really likes Olive Garden!

2) more seriously, most stores and restaurants are not completely represented in the factory installed database. the stock database is usually 1.5 to 2 years old - or more. many chains open and close stores frequently, and you'll find many holes in the factory lists.

3) in a custom POI file much more information can be added (phone, address, exit number, description, hours etc. etc.). not everyone takes advantage of this, but this is another reason to create a custom file

4) simplicity of not have to type a search field while driving. simply going to "where to/custom poi/olive garden" and getting a list of the closest locations adds to the ease of use of your unit.

... I'm sure there are plenty more reasons, but you get the idea ...

I would think one of the main reasons some people create POI files like OLIVE GARDEN and one of the main reasons people download these POI's is that they are usually more up to date then the pre-installed ones on your GPS. On this web site the POI files are always being updated by the original creaters. Plus also I like that I don't need to spell anything out, I just go right to the Category I want and there they are. It eliminates a step or two.

I never download National Chain anything and when I create it is by food source not by name, if you are passing thru town you already know the name of the Chain Restaurants but not the local family owned.

My GPSr is fairly new and came with Mapsource 2008, however many visitors to this site have older units with much older maps and very useful to them now and me in the future unless I update the map.

What seems like a waste of time to some it is godsend to others.

Well, if it hasn't already been stated, I have a couple reasons:

1) The delivered points of interest database in my Nuvi is out of date, and often times incorrect. For me, an example is the tale of two pizza joints in my town. The oldest one (here at least 30+ years) in not in my Nuvi database, but a newer one (5 years old) is. Also, the newer one just moved. So now my Nuvi is wrong on both counts.

2) My COSTCO Gas project (now complete!) is a POI file with all COSTCO stores with gas sales in the US (and now, there is a file for each state in the US). Yes, I could go to "Where To"/"Fuel", but I would, being a member of COSTCO, rather go to a COSTCO gas station than any other place, esp. with gas at $3/GAL. So, if you are planning a trip, you can download a file for each state you are traveling in/around, and check for COSTCO gas first, before checking for any other gas dealer. Also - thanks to the work of "locals" a number of my state COSTCO gas files have been updated already!

So, I hope this helps answer your question, and maybe inspire you to create or update a POI file (as I was by davegoss47's work on the COSTCO Western States file).

This is not a hard question.

First, not all POI files are the same.
Some models may not include Olive Gardens.....or whatever.

Second, some units (mine) do not allow the setting of alarms for built-in POIs.

Third, some built-in POI files are incomplete and outdated. I don't thing any models allow you to correct the built-in files.

Probably other reasons too, including but not limitted to: The user has a "thing" for Olive Garden (or he drives a truck and delivers there).

1) Up to date listings with custom info. If a store opened today, you can have it with its phone number.

2) Ability to modify the lon/lat. I find that many times if you go off the address alone the location is off. It may be on the wrong side of the road, wrong block or a business owners home address, not the business. It is a problem with either towns not conforming to normal addresses or the map providers images not lining up (don't know which).

A custom poi file will allow you to "fix" all these problems. Any database is only as good as the info that is put into it. In my small and short time of making files, I have found that some cities/towns are almost consistantly off in both the yahoo and google programs while in others they are right on. But by making my own csv it does what "I" want.

Daniel

The biggest reason! They owned stocks of Olive Gardens.

B-I-N-G-O

If you take the Starbucks POI list for example, my factory list does not include the ones inside grocery stores, Target, etc. The custom ones do, which can save some time and distance when you need the morning fix in a strange town

I don't know why there's a need to question why people generate certain POI lists. They've created something they find useful and are willing to share what they've created with others. If the subject matter does not appeal, move on.

and there is always, just for the sake of passing time other than watching the grud on tv these days and somthing to do with the new toy and computer, that some one might find usefull.

Yes, some POI's are not listed since they are operating from at least a year old. The other would be to see the picture icon of say "Starbucks" on the map instead of the standard sandwich slice, the phone number, Or they just might be a Starbucks Junky!

On a side note, You can't just load a bmp file with out creating a .csv can you? Like just use POI loader and load a starbucks.bmp and have it recognize all the starbucks that were in the original preloaded software?

Nope. The Custom icons only work with the associated Custom POI files. They won't work with the preloaded data.

I don't understand the Red Light POI. Do people run red lights so often that they need to be alerted that a camera exists at certain intersections?

dtmaddox cited Olive Garden in his example: why create an Olive Garden POI list, when many national brands such as OG are in the pre-loaded POIs? And he received many good responses.

There is another reason why one would create a POI list of a national brand: in some cases the locations are not branded the same nationally. Common examples are gas stations and car dealers. BP gas stations, for example, can have names such as Bob's BP, Ron's Amoco, and FastFuel. Even a search on the character string "BP" won't identify them all. And that assumes that the built-in POIs are up to date and comprehensive.

No, I don't think so. But it's just another piece of information that can be used as you drive. I might set up alerts for Starbucks but doesn't mean that I want to stop at all of them.

Many of our units boast 6 million POI's. That is just a fraction of the actual number of businesses out there! If you want ALL the Olive Gardens, someone will have to make a custom POI for it.

It was touched on in one post, but I find that at least 20% of the built in POIs to take me to the wrong actual location. While I'm not a big Olive Garden fan, I'm glad someone is and has taken the time to put together a more accurate list that others can use. If the built in POIs are working for you, thats great. Then you don't need to bother downloading it. Others do find it of value. I'll go out on a limb and say that that file's been downloaded at least 100 times since its original posting, probably more.

... is often shortened. I have not been following it as closely as when they first made their big push (in AZ I believe), but as part of the contract to install and maintain the lights, the contractor got the cities to shorten the length of time the yellow light appeared. As more and more people became aware of the shortened yellow, slamming brakes on yellow led to a marked increase in rear-end accidents.

So, use the warning to alert you to the possibility that someone in front of you may slam on their brakes.

Yummmy!

Here are the numbers for the Olive Garden POI File:
It was posted by p38nut as the lead for the project and it has been downloaded 2,769 times since then.

Miss POI

And the Starbucks junky would be me. I am a traveling salesman and I need to know where the closest one is to the hotel so I can start my day with a chai latte.

They are easier to find versus the...

I press the "Find" button then
/Food, Hotel...
/Food & Drink
/Italian
/Spell
/o-l-i-v-e
/Done

Just...

where to ►
custom poi ►
olive garden (or whatever)►
done

even easier if a custom bmp is associated and you spot it on the screen.

I commend anyone who creates custom POI files. It makes life easier for everyone logged onto this site. I mean, isn't this the real reason why we all joined this website. To learn and make life easier when traveling with a GPS!!!

Does anyone know how many poi's can fit on a model 680? and how does one extract a favorites file to a custom poi file to post on the web site for others to use? Thanks for any info on this.

I am busy (sort of) creating my own POI's that make my life fuller / easier. If I think someone else might like to use them, I would post them on POI -Factory

accuracy!
Accuracy!!
ACCURACY!!!

Bob

Just another tool to make you aware of your surroundings or a tool of prevention.

I could ask you why you bought a GPS, couldn't you just have used a map unfolded on your seat all the time? If you get a flu shot, its probably for not, chances are you weren't going to get the flu anyway.

So No I don't run red lights, but xhit happens! and If can avoid it happening guess what, thats why it's available. My sugguestion to you is download it and use it, but then you might be one of those perfect folks and never error.

Oh yeah, and don't forget.
A-C-C-U-R-A-C-Y

This spells it out exactly for why I use it. Especially when I'm driving, I don't want to have to spell anything. It doesn't take nearly as much time or effort to look for a custom poi for a restaurant I know I want to eat a, so it's a little bit safer. It's a different story when I just want Italian. Then I don't care if it's an Olive Garden or not.

Kevin

They display on the map without searching for them.

So, has anyone ever considered compiling a POI of poi specialty restaurants (i.e. the pounded taro root paste that, to put it charitably, is an acquired taste) in Hawaii? It could be labeled "POI poi." Or perhaps "poi POI."

And I have my little remote to activate voice recognition for my Nuvi 880. So if I spell something it is out loud and not punching anything.
This is a very good safety feature too.

Also, when my first 880 screen went numb and dumb before Christmas, the only way I had to communicate with it was by the voice commands. I like Olive Garden, but much more I like Starbucks. I am a cappuccino junkie.

Wow, I'm surprised no one mentioned that not all of us have a navigation unit with built in POIs. We have an old Garmin eTrex, but we recently switched to using our cell phones with free downloaded software and a bluetooth GPS unit. Total investment: $30 (because we already had the capable phones)! Woo hoo! Beats the pants off a $500 unit that's also too big for backpacking. This setup is much more versatile for all the activities that we participate in.

We travel a lot in the US and download a number of restaurants/eaterys, such as OG. I then combine the list with other lists, like Friendlys and make one larger poi file so when I drive I can see just those food stops we want and we can plan ahead for breakfast or dinner. There are even times when I leave the GPS on the POI so the various locations and distances unroll as we travel.

Interestingly, we save a lot of time this way as some places allow us to call ahead for take-out. Imagine being driving down I95 in Maine and pre-ordering your lunch in Mass. Done it!!

Most people have a Credit or ATM Card.

Ever tried to use that card at a roadside stand 100 miles from home? Most likely they deal only in cash. Ooops, don't have enough cash. The solution: A POI file on your GPS.

I loaded the Bank of America POI file onto my Garmin. Now I just go to the "Extras + Custom POIs + BoA" and voila, the ATMs are listed by distance with the closest one at the top, showing the distance and a direction arrow. If you travel and don't want to carry a lot of cash, this is great. Of course, every convenience store now has an ATM. But those are not free and some charge as much as $4.50 per transaction. BoA charges me nothing, because I have an account there.

Credit Union ATM users should be aware that many Credit Unions do NOT charge a fee for you using another Credit Union's ATM card.

GPS maps and the location of the desired business are frequently wrong. I'll take a field or Google Earth checked POI first.

It's elementary, my dear Watson. Because you can!

It's alimentary, my dear Watson.

I would try to get my business listed on POI (if I owned a retail businss). I might even go so far as to create a list.

think this is a good idea. Ask Shell Oil company for a list of their stations. I have ask twice and have not even been given the respect of telling me that they don't do that. Nothing, Nada, Zilch. Further more, when I attempted to find the stations using their internet Station finder (LocalShell.com), one of my ISP's was blocked. Now they have changed their LocalShell page and I can't locate any station on either of my ISP's. Pretty much have Alabama and Florida, but it requires a lot of work, so I am trying to decide whether to upload what I have and call it quits, simply call it quits or call it quits and cut up my Shell Card.

Frustrated in Alabama

Curt

I can give you another reason for custom POI's
I was in Monroe Ohio just yesterday and went to my Garmin 885t to find a place for our group to dine. We settled on OLIVE GARDEN and I felt empowered telling Jill to guide me there.
To my surprise we were led to the back parking lot of the local cinema.
No Olive Garden in sight, we rode around for 7 minutes and then settled on Cracker Barrel, so we consulted Jill again and on our way to the new location, there was the Olive Garden that eluded us on our new Garmin.
Had I downloaded the CUSTOM POI, I know that there would have been some Lazagna waiting for me instead of settling for a nominal second choice at the Cracker Barrel right around closing time.
Thank all of you for taking time to construct Custom POI's for busy people like me.