Will the GPS market last forever?

That's the reason I won't buy a smart phone, AT&T makes you take a $30.00 a month data plan whether you want it or not. If not for that I would buy an iphone for the apps you can get and the wifi when I don't have a laptop along

Why denigrate those of us who don't need/want phone bills of $100-120/month? I am not on welfare and I am not on a fixed income, but a $100/month is not what I want. If it works for you great. But it doesn't mean you are intellectually superior because it doesn't make any financial sense to me.

I work in an advanced technological field but that does not mean I need every new thing that come along to enslave me to a 2 year contract.

to many times we see accidents happen that way. By using a hand-free device such as standalone GPSr help simplified the situation should it unfortunately occurs (Thanos, I hope your friend is OK now)

Thanks for your concern. He is doing fine and he's home now. His wife is making sure he takes his medication (lots of pain killers) as he doesn't like pills.

Still going to take time for him to recover, but the trauma center's doctors say he is going to make a full recovery. Unfortunately they said it will take at least 5 months for his spine to heal on its own. The good news is he didn't need surgery.

Now he is going through the annoying task of dealing with his lawyer and insurance company, so they can "take care" of the responsible party. His car is gone, but he can't drive for 5 months, so he told me he doesn't mind right now.

but I've got an even more useful reason for my situation. I've got enough "all you can eat" cell phone plan coverage that it wouldn't cost me a cent more to use my smartphone's navigation system instead of my 1490T. But first, it's a Window Mobile phone (sucks), and second, it's small screen and lack of adaptable display choices makes it a real non-starter for me.

Besides, try using any phone nav system to find things like "offbeat tourist attractions" or "Man vs. Food" locations, and you're s*rewed. So as long as stand alones work, can download POI files from here, I can't see myself ever using another technology.

should be more worried that a satellite could fall out of orbit and onto your house

if this generation of gps dies I'm sure the next generation would come along and be better.

http://jkontherun.com/2009/10/28/gps-makers-just-got-lost-du...

Car Dock

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-det...

Pretty cool

I don't think it will last forever, there will always be something new to take over.

AT&T is one the easiest carriers to use a smartphone without a data package. You just need to buy your own unlocked phone. In our house we use a Nokia E63 and N900 smartphones on AT&T without a data plan. We do use the wifi extensively though.

no lol

Maybe they're just looking for someone/something more like Henry Ford, rather than the Stanley Brothers?

There is a lot of good info in this thread regarding smartphones, droids, blackberrys, etc. I know I will get a lot of the terminology incorrect. There is a reason for that. You do not need to correct me.
I am behind on the "new" phone gps, data plans, apps, etc. I have a company phone that is 3 years old and it works for what I need (calls and text). My nuvi 650 works for what it is intended for (including poi's from here).
I will admit the 3g/4g packages, blackberries, droids, etc have a lot of great and useful functions. Being on a Boy Scout campout and wondering how bad that storm is becomes very useful.
I do carry separate everything. That is cell, camera, laptop, and GPS. It would be great to combine all of it. But not at this time in my life. What I have works.

Bottom line is that what works for some people does not work for others. That is just the way it is. My sons new droid works for him. He is in college and working and it keeps him connected with apps, text, cell, and anything else he has on it.

I also have a separate scanner and printer at the house. I refuse to have a "all in one" because if 1 function dies you are out of luck.

The extinction of the stand-alone device especially for the device with limited functionality appears to be a foregone conclusion however; if convergence of technology enhances the functionality then the survival of the portable device appears assured.

Since functionality and mobility of information are significant, one would likely have a portable device along with an integrated system within a vehicle. You would just need an interface to communicate between the devices.

Actually, mobility or portability appears to be the developing trend along with storing information in the “cloud” (cloud computing) if so, then connectivity or accessibility to information could be seen as a potential limiting factor. Of course, other limiting factors of the portable device are power failure due to increased usage and the likely risk of equipment failure or other mishap leading to the loss of information and/or functionality. Again, cloud computing could lead to storage of information to an external location so that the information could be accessed rather than lost along with the device.

Portability is a key feature which I believe will be enhanced by developments such as a brain-computer interface or similar device. For instance, developments in a neural interface worn around the vocal cords could lead to using voiceless command to perform functions such as rerouting, etc. while still looking at the at the roadway*.

The most significant drawback might be the loss of cognitive function such as attention while trying to multitask which is actually the true contributor in many driving accidents.

* http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neck...

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/13/audeo-think-n-spell-neckb...

I had to laugh at your printer/scanner analogy. Considering the way tech has developed and prices have dropped over the years what would you do now if lets say your scanner died and you had to have a new one?

I'd just take a photo of the document with my now dirt-cheap higher-than-a-scanner-resolution camera.

Pay the fees to transfer it to my computer where I would have to use it as a jpeg image rather than a document.

Were it me... I'd replace the bad scanner with another stand-alone device. They are still being made. And I could probably get one with better specs for less than I paid compared to the one that died.

GPS units provide free navigation without a monthly cost. I haven't seen a cell phone company willing to do that. You pay through the nose for anything beyond voice.

There are very few people who are going to get a smartphone without a data plan, there's no point, and there are cheap options for fairly high cap data plans, 6GB for $30 for example. Data plans are for a lot more than GPS, they're for full time connectivity, but if GPS is included then it's going to be used and there are many advantages to having everything - phone, GPS & traffic, web, contacts, PIM and time management, music & video all on one device. I haven't fully migrated yet and am happy with the standalone devices I have but when they die then I think it's inevitable that I'll move towards an integrated device, and so will most of the rest of the population who aren't there already.

Standalone consumer devices may survive but if they do they'll be niche and will have to be cheap low margin units, the long term future for a standalone consumer GPS device costing $500 or more is very limited.

I already replaced the scanner because it would only save all documents with a blue color. I did get a better one and a little cheaper than the first one.

?
Never actually paid myself to transfer a photo from my camera to my PC.

I have converted a jpg to a tiff (fax format) and used Acrobat Prof. to OCR an image file though. I DID pay for Acrobat originally.

Just adding Wi-Fi and a decent browser would make a GPS much more versatile, without adding monthly data plan costs. Of course, free Wi-Fi conflicts with the nüLink wallet extraction business model...

Now I get it. Thanx. I'm old school & use a camera for photos and a phone for ...er, phone calls.

But I'm tryin to be 2008 .. my camera is digital & one phone is cellular.

Probably not in our lifetime...

Depends ..

Probably not if you wear 'em.
Fruit of the Loom, Haines- Maybe.
Huggies- Good chance, imo.

(Sorry. I'm tired & punchy. ..and I just had to.)

no.

Interesting because we have found all sorts of things our smart phones are usefull for without data plans that you just can not get in a regular cell phone.

Interactive calendars and notes. Scheduling and documents. And the cameras that are on them while are not a complete replacement for a good camera at 2 and 5 megapixels they do pretty well. Also while we have AT&T we get free wi-fi in a ton of locations which means that the only place we really miss not having data is usually when we are on the road.

A smartphone without a data plan does not lose it's funcitionality as a smartphone. I don't need the internet everywhere I go. And that's $360 a year I will keep in my pocket. and still enjoy all the extras that the smartphone has.

Plus by buying an unlocked phone you have the freedom to change carriers (well Tmobile for us from ATT) and your equipment is not bogged down with ATT apps. I can put whatever apps I like on mine and whenever Nokia updates firmwares etc, I can do that as well.

How do/will cellphone based GPS apps help find all the locations of Man v Food? Or offbeat tourist attractions? Or the best mom and pop ice cream stores? All locations found in POI files here, but I can't believe are easy to find via cellphone GPS.

After all, even cellphones with 8Mpixel cameras haven't obsoleted standalone cameras. Should Nikon and Canon be worried too, for the same reason?

Well they can't or at least at this time they are not able to fully replace a camera or a gps unit and give you all the functionality. What they have done is taken the specialized markets and allowed users to replace some of there clutter with one device. It all depends on what is important to you.

If you need to have all the extras that a stand alone camera or gps provides then carry all those items with you. If you are like some people and just want the ability to take good outdoor shots and use free maps, then the cell phone is a decent stand in for stand alone equipment. Ovi maps are free, the Nokia cameras on there better phones are very decent to really good. I have not used the GPS on my phone but I do plan to one day.

Honestly though man vs. food does not peak my interest at all, however Guy's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives do.

Exactly my point. Now unsatisfied with my 10Mp standalone point and shoot camera, I'm just about to buy a Canon Rebel 2. Not just for its 18Mp, but also for the flexibility of zoom lenses, higher picture quality, and opportunities for creativity. The lesser quality option has actually increased my interest in better quality (and away from an "all in one").

As for DDD, I also have that. And, defunct amusement parks, ghost towns, RideToEat, etc., etc. Stuff that can't be that easy to find using a phone based GPS.

The gps as we know it will change but I'm sure people will need to find a way to get from one place to another.

I hope GPS just continue to improve and never go away!

I can't argue that the gear specific devices have always been the best for they were designed. There are a lot of us out there that just don't see the need or want to carry four devices with us when we travel.

It's kind of like the swiss army knife thought process. Except those dinky little knives were only good for the single blade (barely) and the toothpick, oh and the disposable wine cork screw on them Damned if those things didn't break after one bottle.

I think GPS stand-alones will go in whatever way consumer's affect it's journey. Look at PDA's. Try to find a stand-alone Palm Pilot. I've used a Tungsten T-5 for years as my PDA and even the black and white model III before that. The only close PDA replacements I can find today are with phones. I don't want a high cost monthly plan, BUT...the market is driving me in that direction. The companies build and provide what the consumers seem to want. It seems once the techology gets so cheap so that profit margins are tight, then bandwidth becomes the cost exorbitant factor.

I hope the URL link here works, but if not, just google "giant swiss army knife" http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/8b97/

Now if I could only find an all in one pair of pants with a pocket big enough...

I think when pigs fly.

There are literally hundreds of uses for GPS technology. It will always exist, but perhaps not in aftermarket car units like most of us on this forum use.

That's awesome I wonder if the $999 knife would fit in my tackle box and if it has more than one cork screw...

That's what we thought of Loran-C as well then came GPS and shut down all the Loran units. I don't see GPS going anywhere anytime soon. Not as long as ships are still using them to navigate.

I just my phone had a receiver in it I could then carry one device with me.

I think we'd be foolish to believe that these things will continue to be marketed in their present format for much longer. I think that the combination cellphone, GPSr, Internet handheld, etc. is probably the wave of the future. Hasn't Garmin already teamed up with Blackberry (or someone) to provide GPS functionality with the other device? At any rate, I'll ride this horse until it dies, then I'll move on to whatever is available at that time.

You can buy a used Android phone, and only use it on wifi mode. That can work very well.

"The companies build and provide what the consumers seem to want."

No, the companies build and provide what they think will be the most profitable. What the consumers actually want is quite low on the list.

For me, I am very happy with my GPS and a paper map for backup! I tend to think that phones, GPS, and even iPod type devices will be integrated. Not my cup of tea, but I am afraid that will be our future. Frankly, the phone GPS screen is not adequate for good navigational viewing, but it will improve and we will be forced to buy it that way, like it or not.

Companies don't think only of profit. The first thing a company considers when looking at a new product is "Will it sell?". If it doesn't sell, the profit won't be there. So any company which tries to make a profit by satisfying the consumer's wants/needs MUST satisfy the consumer's wants/needs.

One point I would like to make is the progressive Miniaturization of electronics. In the future, we won't need a "screen" to see anything, we just "plug" our brain into the vehicle's (or other mode of transportation) computer and our eyes will "see" whatever it is we're looking for or thinking about, much like a "heads up" military display.

Funny thing is the older I get, the LARGER the electronics needs to be so I can see and operate it.
That's when I say to Garmin, Thanks!

Earthmate PN-60w With SPOT Satellite Communicator: DeLorme’s Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator can be a valuable tool on any trip that extends well outside of cellphone range. It not only provides detailed topographical maps and GPS guidance in the backcountry, it also lets explorers send SOS messages with embedded coordinates via satellite if they’re in trouble—or Facebook updates if they’re not.

Whats next?

i totally agree,,, i too was looking for the best Phone to use as GPS and honestly,
till they make a 5" screen cell phone,
i'll me current stand alone GPS....
i just can't use a smaller screen then 5"..
no way....

Dell has a 5" screen cell phone:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/mobile-streak/pd?refid=mob...

Good Luck with that!

Perhaps Google or similar will start to offer free WiFi in your area but you won't be able to count on it wherever you go. Better keep that 660 in the glovebox as a backup...

- Phil