Garmin's Future?

The Above is Doomed to a Painful Death
Google Maps is FREE and is wonderful.

The last time I checked, AT&T wants $50/month for a data plan. That's $600/year plus the $200 iPhone purchase. Hardly "free."

But hey, if it makes some cell phone jockeys pull off the road to take a phone call while they can't see their GPS app, I'm all for it.

Not true, At&t charges only $25 on 2gb data plan, $15 on 200mb one (with smartphones)

I can only speculate, but he's thinking of the monthly service charge as well as the data plan.

As to Garmin and the app, I think they may actually do well. They'd do better in my opinion if they stored the entire map on the phone, like Garmin Mobile XT does. But in the end it doesn't really matter to me since I refuse to have Apple products on my computer.

I read a rumor that apple was looking at tomtom. Don't remember where I read it.

I've read quite a few articles lately where the authors try to predict what current gadgets will no longer be around in a few years. Personally, I don't want to live without my Garmin. Even if my cell phone were able to navigate as well as my Garmin I just don't think that it could replace my Garmin. I mean, it just seems like there are so many features built in to the Garmin that you wouldn't really be able to get with a cell phone. My biggest reason for not currently using my cell phone as my navigator is the size. Personally, I don't think even if I had something to mount my cell phone on my dash/windshield that I could see it while driving. Plus it seems like it would kill my battery.

If you are going to use your cell/smartphone for navigation you are going to want to have more than 200MB a month to play with. Possibly even more than the 2GB plan. Since the maps are not kept on the phone that is data that is being downloaded. Personally in my job my GPS in on every time the vehicle moves. Most days I travel 50 miles a day for work. Others I can travel as much as 225 miles. So over a month time frame I bet all the map updating will go over both plans.

As others have said I'll keep a GPS for the primary navigation. The phone I'll use when I'm the passenger and no other GPS is around or I'm on foot.

That's not very realistic to include the phone data subscription cost in the equation. There is hardly anyone who buys an iPhone or a similar smartphone without a data plan. Adding a GPS app does not directly add to the existing cost unless the GPS app supplier has their own subscription fee.

Or you could expand your math to include the cost of the car, gas and upkeep. After all, you have to have a car to use an auto GPS, right?

If you only use the cell phone data plan for navigation, then it is a legitimate cost. If you use other features that require data transfers then only that portion of the total should be used.

All I know is that I have a fully paid for navigation device, a paid traffic subscription and map updates which were also a one-time charge. The cost of using my system decreases each month it is in service as the total cost is now amortized over a longer period. I do not incur any recurring charges - a data plan (or portion thereof). I've got a little over $600 total wrapped up in my Garmin. After 2 years of use, that's down to about $25 per month, At 60 months, assuming no changes, I'm down to $10 per month.

The average life of a cell phone is about 24 to 36 months. I have no idea what the life expectancy of my Garmin is, I can assume 5 years. So, during that same period I would have had to replace a cell phone at least once, if not twice and I haven't seen full featured smartphones on the "free with a 2 year contract" yet. (Now yes, there are 2 for 1 deals, but you still pay out at least the cost of a midgrade PND every time you replace the unit.)

Added to the apportioned cost of the phone is the app (in some cases). Now, the big question on the app cost is when a new version is available. It won't be long before upgrades are a chargeable cost and, like PND units versions will no longer be supported. The big problem here is even if you can move the app from one phone to another, would to OS be compatible with the app? I've got lots of software around that is/was very useful that no longer operates on my computer because of OS upgrades.

As in anything, there are always lots of hidden costs of ownership and it is extremely difficult to do straight comparisons between the two. So, perhaps the math is a little skewed, but it is still a fair method of comparison as the cost of a smartphone running navigation is more, over the same period of time, than the PND which has a fixed capital cost with no operating cost included with the capital cost of device purchase.

It is realistic in my case (I figure other people's too) as I DON'T pay for a data plan now, and I don't want to pay $15 extra a month (more if it is pulling the data from the network all the time). So dave817 post is right: It is NOT free.

Your 2nd paragraph is THE unrealistic comparison. I can use the gps on foot, you don't need a car.

We have discussed this at length in other posts and it is fine for people already deep into spending in a data plan (who already own a smart phone), not so for everyone else.

I won't take the offer I have from AT&T of an iPhone4 for $18 + 2yr. contract + data plan. Make the data plan "free" and I may sign up for another 2 years (I've been with them 8) and pay $18 for the iPhone (although I don't like Apple). You know that's not going to happen. The money they make is on the data plan.