885 map

From model to model Garmin changed this so I think if your 885 isn't showing the upcoming street then there is no way to change this.

Interesting is that the new 2013 models, like the 3597 now show both the street your on and the upcoming street, in 2 separate fields of course, on the map screen. I guess they decided that they couldn't keep everybody happy all the time so they just did what they should have done in the first place.

As I recalled that Garmin got sued either TomTom or some other GPS manufacture that they didn't have the patent to do that. Not 100% sure but that I recalled reading some where.

Sued over what?

They have had models that displayed the upcoming street.

They have had models that displayed the street your on.

They have had models that displayed one or the other depending on what type of road you were driving on.

Now they have models that display both the street your on and the upcoming street all the time.

Attempting to sue Garmin over some patent issue concerning what they display on the map screen would be like shooting a moving target.

With me that has always been a problem with my 885, I think it was a lack of common sense with the programer. Both of my older Street Pilots show the up coming street which was handy if I was in a strange town, possibly in heavy traffic. It saved me from being distracted trying to find a street sign while driving. It also came in handy at night driving in the country looking for a side road. I already know what road I'm on so why would I want it to show that?

Having done a fair amount of programming in my time, I react to slurs about programmers - which I admit are often throwaway statements and not meant in quite the way they are read by programmer types.

Garmin and Tom Tom were involved in a series of patent disputes starting in 2006 that concerned which streets are important enough to a driver’s route to be displayed on the device’s on-screen maps.

These disputes impacted the design of what showed on the screen as new products were introduced.

As screens became larger (and the patent disputed were settled) changes in the design followed. Customer input also had an impact.

Would the customer prefer to see the street on which they are driving, or the next upcoming street, or the the street on which the route chosen will make a turn - or perhaps two of them - even maybe all three? If two are shown, in what order will they be displayed? How will they be labeled so that the description is clear to a driver who SHOULD only occasionally glance at the device?

For myself, what I would like to see depends on the situation. For example, if I am driving in a new city following a route, I would like to know what street I am now on. Then, I would like to have the next street displayed so that my passenger can keep track of where we are. I would also like to have the street onto which I will next turn displayed along with the remaining distance. The names of these streets might be on the map but hard to read (since some would be diagonal or vertically oriented) unless they are displayed, say, at the top and appropriately labeled.

My point is that - in design - what might seem like common sense to one person would be distracting information to another - and often would depend on the particular usage then being made of the device.

As a programmer myself (firmware mostly), I generally try to include options to allow the user to "have it their way", which tends to make everyone happier. It's more trouble but worth it in the long run.

Of course if the issue is a patent dispute then the programmer's hands are tied, the only other option is an Easter egg.

- Phil