Cities discover mapping devices lagging behind rapid growth

People need to be smarter about how they search for stuff, not just over the internet, but also on GPSs. Hopefully, most of us on this site realize that the data in our GPS is already a year or more old. You and I (should) know better then to look for a business by its name, but instead by its address (and even that can sometimes lead to a wrong place). But the average consumer would more then likely just type in the name of the business and just follow the directions without question. Until technology is at the point where information such as this can be updated at a near real-time basis, the user will have to actually use the gray matter in thier head.

That the final paragraphs of the story don't mention a lawyer looking for someone to sue over this...

The story also points to the benefits of a community such as this one -- actively following and updating POIs.

A few nights ago, I had to take my son to an appointment on the other side of town. Knew where I was going, so didn't need the GPS for that, but I also needed some other things. Rather than sit and wait for him, I pushed the "Trader Joe's" button on my GPS -- and it told me there was one 0.6 miles away!

Success, thanks to the POI Factory community!

I am always amazed at advancing technology, and how things move from "convenience" to "necessity" to "expectation". It was not long ago that the only way to find a business was to get the address from the phone book and look it up on a map. And if a business missed the annual publication of the phone book, too bad. And did you ever expect to walk into a public washroom and see someone standing at the urinal talking on the phone?

It was common to think "gee, wouldn't it be nice if...". But now we expect and DEMAND real time access to information! And we are highly critical of Garmin, Google and other services if they don't have roads and addresses in a new subdivision listed within 30 days of the pavement being laid.

Perhaps I am not as demanding as others, because I still look at my GPS unit (and my cell phone and my other electronic gizmos) as fantastic conveniences.

Myself I have always considered GPS, Google Maps, and such as tools. Learned a long time ago that these will usually get you in the general area. When I did my "Ohio VFW" POI I was using "Googles Street View" extensivily to get the correct cooridinates. Now if business could start putting the GPS cooridinates on thier website or in the phone book a GPS could get you there much more accurately.

The maps may be a year old, but the information is often several years older. New streets take forever to get added to a map. I've sent in a number map corrections to Garmin and after a year they are still not correct. And yes, many businesses are shown wildly off location.

But if one uses the GPS for directions on established roads, they're 99.9% correct, I believe.