Never used a GPS!

I know, it's the same here.
Some people think they will have to pay monthly charges if they buy GPS - like for the cell phone
Others think that it is too complicated to use.
I always show them my GPS unit and demonstrate what it can do. People are amazed!

And a GPS will be a standard item in a car like an AM/FM radio is today.

I don't see gps being standard, until electric windows are standard

I showed my Map 60CSx to my brother-in-law last summeer while he was camping. He's an avid hunter/fisherman but didn't really look at it for very long at the time. I thought he'd be more interested since he likes being outdoors. But about two months later when I was at his house, lo and behold, there was a brand new Garmin nuvi sitting there and he was raving about how great it was for driving! He travels for his job as an electrician and loves it.

Acutally I was one of those people who printed Google maps!

But now with GPS, it is sooo much easier. Especially those complicated highway routes and circle exchanges. I know I would've been lost if I used printed Google maps.

The one advantage of hardcopy is that you have the correct address (if you found your destination online.)

I am in Minneapolis this week and helped a friend drive to an Acura dealer intending to leave the one car there.

Well, we got lost, I put "the address" into the GPS and it took me exactly where I asked...

But that was on Brookline Ave and not Brooklyn Ave. Damned midwest accents.

Most people just aren't exposed to the technology in their day to day lives, so don't consider that they would like or need it.

As one example, my sister and her husband came out west to New Mexico last fall. We drove over to spend several days with them. I drove to a few locations, restaurants, events, etc and used the GPS each time. I had created a custom POI for the trip as well as using the Diner, Drive-In's and Dives POI from here. They were both impressed by both the size of my Nuvi 260, the feature set, easy of use, spoken directions and street names, not to mention the how good the food was at the DDD locations!

Anyway, my brother-in-law, who is a software engineer so no Luddite, pretty much said "Nice, but we don't need that.". My sister, on the other hand was intrigued and asked more questions. A number of weeks later, after returning home, she got stuck in a detour off I-95 hours from her home, and sat in stop and go holiday traffic for two hours before she got back on I-95 to complete her trip home.

As we discussed this event, I explained that if she had a GPSr she could have gone another mile or so down the road to a parallel route and then re-enter the interstate some miles up the road, avoiding the s&g traffic detoured off the interstate. I explained the unit would automatically route her back to the interstate and she'd have the advantage that all the other drives didn't have, being able to travel unfamiliar roads the other "detoutists" could not do without the worry about getting lost. I told her she might end up driving an number of extra miles, but the overall travel time would have been much shorter.

She bought her Nuvi 255W less than a week after that conversation.

For her, it took the exposure to the technology as helpful during vacation to get her thinking about buying one and a frustrating trip closer to home to convince her it was worth the money spent.

It wasn't until Christmas 2007 that I had a GPS. My sister and brother-in-law got me a C330. I had fun with it and then I saw the C550 on sale at Buy.com for $169.99 and got an additional 5% off of that for some reason. I was using that until March when I got a 765T.

Personally, I still like to plan out my route since I do not trust the device 100% to give me the best route. It is definitely useful when you hit an unexpected detour.

I don't know what I would do with out mine. How did we ever live without them when driving somewhere?

Cartography has been successful as a paper-based technology for centuries, millennia even.

My neighbor has a Garmin and still prints out Yahoo maps. Go Figure! He also believes that he should not have a 401K plan, because he is a reformed gambler and that's gambling. DUH!

I am surprised they are not. Did not think you could buy a new car with manual windows.

My cousin refuses to use a GPS navigator. She has seen mine in action warning me about red light cameras, etc, and how useful it is getting from one location to another in the city. For some reason, she still refuses to consider getting/using one. It's weird to me because she had no such resistance to text messaging on phones.

I used to print google maps as well.
As soon as I started using my nuvi there is no need for it. I wish they installed them in cars for free like they started doing it on cell phones.
With certain Nokia's phones you get free gps, no need for monthly subscription.
I think it's for the phones below:
* Nokia N97
* Nokia N97 mini
* Nokia 6710 Navigator
* *Nokia X6
* Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
* Nokia 5230
* Nokia E52
* *Nokia E72
In some cases Nokia gives you even a holder that you can install in your car. Nokia just pushes for free GPS navigation software to combat Google maps navigation

broke or get stolen.

I also was a late comer to GPS tech...my best uses come with delivery of my product (newspapers). Customers change freqently and I can differentiate between new customers, vacation stops and problem areas ( complaint etc.) to better assure accuracy.

I also enjoy it for travel as well. I love my Nuvi 650

Before I go on a long trip to an area I have never been to before, i review paper maps just so i know what's coming up and what to expect. even with doing that there have been times when my Garmin led me astray. Use the GPS as a TOOL, not as an absolute "never made a mistake" unit.

I use the GPS to get me to were I want to go, but I will have a map handy to see the bigger picture and I also Google my route ahead of time.

My wife has a friend that received a GPS for Christmas from her husband. She has never used it!
She is not techno challenged. Just will not take time to learn how to use it. Best part, she is always lost meaning the - "I don't know how to get there"
Wow!

Playing the hapless victim?

I use my GPS everyday, however I always have my backup in the iPhone in some cases I could not locate an address on the Nuvi bit was able to access it through the phone.
Two are better than one...

The comment below highlights what I believe. When out of state and on a major highway that has become a parking lot, my GPSr lets me detour off to the side rides. I know the GPS will find a way for me. Without the GPS I wouldn't do this, especially at night. With the GPS I do it all of the time.

So even if I know where I'm going, I use the GPS on any long trip in case I need to detour around some major traffic.

I usually go out for a long trip for fun. GPS is really necesary to me. Well, if u just go for work or school, and shopping, GPS wont be necessary. Although I think u'd better keep one in your car in case of lost of ur way.

I am male, so I don't like asking for directions, but I also HATE to get lost! A GPS is a great way to avoid both problems!

...also

Many people say I waste money on gadgets. After they ride in the car with me, they eventually ask where I got my TOMTOM.

My sister HATES tech stuff, and on a trip to FLORIDA with her family, she ended up buying one. She loved the listening to music and driving instructions all coming though the radio!

Mr. T's voice had her and her husband and I in stitches!

My niece and nephew are too young to know who he is, and my girl friend didn't grow up in America, so they didn't understand why T's insulting voice was so funny!

Always use my GPS when going someplace I'm unfamiliar with. But sometimes I will also print out a Streets and Trips map if its important enough (job interview etc) I never had to revert to the printed maps, but can't rely 100% on a GPS.

A lot of people fail to understand the advantages of GPS so they will never get one.

Many people never go anywhere new. As a matter of fact on the little island I grew up on it would be useless as you knew where everything was.

ALSO!!! Make sure the new driver in my case or new to GPS'S know how to use them. My 16year old was asked to make a run to Starbucks I said just look it up on the GPS he looked in recently found and drove 18 miles to a Starbucks. (There was one 1 mile away!)

Kids!!

I'm sure he knows about the one nearby. He just enjoys driving very much

Part of the benefit of the gps comes from getting in the habit of having it in the car most of the time. Family members act amazed when I bring it on trips when we know where we're going. Then, when I need to find a QT or Captian D's (I have POI files for both) ASAP, they see the benefit.

I feel naked without my GPS.

I love my GPS, especially using the POI's to locate new micro breweries, but man is it a pain when the wife steals it. I have a 2nd unit, but it is old and the map is not updatable