can you get by without google maps/waze?

 

Something happened to my phone, and have been without for 3 days (imagine that--I would have laughed 5 yrs. ago saying so what, today? Very stressful around work).

Now I have no choice but to listen to AM radio and try to make the best judgement. Yes on rare occasions, google misses the fact that no this route does not save 8 min. due to the entrance to the GWB being closed as suggested, but normally, it saves 10 min+ on a commute to and from work as there are as many possible routes as there are ways to configure a Porsche!

man are smartphones practical these days. and expensive--they tried to tell me my phone is not covered by a warranty, even though 10 mos. old. I was thinking s*** that could be over $700 down the drain? This is the 3rd Galaxy S8, though, not sure what's wrong with them. Had a S4 prior and zero problems.

Just think

you could always revert back to your trusty old GPS !

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

Here maps

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Really????

I am 63 years old and got by with paper maps for decades. I can certainly get by without Waze or Google Maps. While a GPS is easy, it is by no means necessary.

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Bobbo and Linda

Google/Waze

Seldom use Google for navigation. Never use Waze. If I don’t have my trusty GPS in the car and I need directions, I will go to Here maps that I have on my phone. Works just fine. May not have up to date traffic, but it will get me to where I am going.

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With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

Yes

I usually have Waze booted on my smartphone along with my Garmin 3597 when travelling. I also use Google Maps occasionally.

The Garmin with smartphone link works well for me when the smartphone isn't handy but I prefer to use both.

Yes

I lack a smart phone, so Waze is not part of my life. I like Google maps on my PC, but could live without it.

My favorite use of Google maps for navigation involves looking up new destinations and using StreetView to see just what they look like on approach.

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personal GPS user since 1992

me too

archae86 wrote:

I lack a smart phone, so Waze is not part of my life. I like Google maps on my PC, but could live without it.

My favorite use of Google maps for navigation involves looking up new destinations and using StreetView to see just what they look like on approach.

Although I do have a smartphone, Galaxy S6, don't use it for navigation, in fact I rarely use it for a phone either. Photos and text messages I what I use it most for.

I do use Google maps street view and satellite view on the PC as well. I use for for many things in reality. mainly to check out a route before hand, looking for intersections and how to make a turn. Is there a traffic light, a left turn arrow, divided highway, etc. The left turn thing may sound funny or odd, but when I travel in New Jersey some of their highways don't allow a left from the left turn left, you have to take a jug handle on the right side of the cross then cross over to complete the left turn, that same highway may also have actual left turn lanes, or a circle (roundabout) but not too many of those left.

Just have to keep in mind that satellite view/street view can be pretty old in some areas and things may look completely different.

Another thing I use street view for, when I'm bored I will take a "ride" down a street in another country I'll never get to visit just to see what it's like, pretty cool.

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. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

Well you're just a kid

robertliles wrote:

I am 63 years old and got by with paper maps for decades. I can certainly get by without Waze or Google Maps. While a GPS is easy, it is by no means necessary.

I have quite a few years on you and have long ago given up on paper maps, actually as far back as 2002. It also is very difficult to consult paper maps underway when you are driving solo !

As an example I cross the border into Detroit to get on I-75 south. Each year for two years now there are horrible detours to get to I-75 south. My Garmin knows which way to go whereas a paper map would not.

I also drive over 3,000 miles every fall for my winter destination and because of constant changes on my not always identical route I am glad to have the Garmin to guide me. Again much more difficult to do with paper maps.

Additionally the Garmin can and will let me know where to find a favorite restaurant along the way. Again a paper map cannot do that.

Having said that I do have some ancient paper maps which are gathering dust these days.

Just my 0.02 worth

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

Garmin for navigation

I use my Garmin for navigation, but still remember how to navigate with paper maps.

Only use Google to look up a location, for interest.

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DriveSmart 65, NUVI2555LMT, (NUVI350 is Now Retired)

I use Google for navigation,

I use Google for navigation, but have Here on my Pixel 2 XL as a backup. I keep my 1300LM in the car as a backup to the Pixel 2 XL, and keep an old (and really needing to be updated) road atlas in the car as a backup to that.

The best use for a physical road atlas is in the unlikely event the electronics fail. You always have a way of telling where you are and how to get home.

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"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." --Douglas Adams

And,

Melaqueman wrote:
robertliles wrote:

I am 63 years old and got by with paper maps for decades. I can certainly get by without Waze or Google Maps. While a GPS is easy, it is by no means necessary.

I have quite a few years on you and have long ago given up on paper maps, actually as far back as 2002. It also is very difficult to consult paper maps underway when you are driving solo !

As an example I cross the border into Detroit to get on I-75 south. Each year for two years now there are horrible detours to get to I-75 south. My Garmin knows which way to go whereas a paper map would not.

I also drive over 3,000 miles every fall for my winter destination and because of constant changes on my not always identical route I am glad to have the Garmin to guide me. Again much more difficult to do with paper maps.

Additionally the Garmin can and will let me know where to find a favorite restaurant along the way. Again a paper map cannot do that.

Having said that I do have some ancient paper maps which are gathering dust these days.

Just my 0.02 worth

A fine 0.02 worth, it is. grin

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With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

Don’t Need It, But Use It

Like other folks on this post, I learned how to navigate with paper maps and can still get around that way if necessary. But also like other folks, I like having Google (or Apple) maps to find the address of a POI. A paper map will only help you if you know where you are going to begin with. Otherwise, you need something called a “Telephone Book” or the “Yellow Pages”

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Shooter N32 39 W97 25 VIA 1535TM, Lexus built-in, TomTom Go

Greece trip with Google and GPS

I took my Nuvi to Greece. When walking I needed to know the way to walk from our Hotel to the Flea Markets in Athens and back to the hotel. The buildings were so tall and the streets were narrow so when walking I was not able to acquire a good satellite. When I did it was very delayed. I bought a Greece Vodafone SIM card and put it in my Note 8 and turned on Google Maps. That worked great, even with the tall buildings and narrow streets.
With all my worry about taking my Nuvi I never used it. After buying the SIM Card I had Talk, text and 7 GB of data for 17 Euros for the trip. I could call and text anywhere in Greece with the SIM card and used Google Dialer to call and text anywhere else, even back her to the US. It was great. Also the trip was great but tiring.

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Mary, Nuvi 2450, Garmin Viago, Honda Navigation, Nuvi 750 (gave to son)

Navigation

Navigation is difficult with paper maps when traveling country roads not shown on maps with less detail. I would have to print each important intersection separately. Navigation devices tell us the distance to an intersection and the time to reach the destination.

It scares me

We are getting so Electronic that in a few more years if we lost power our Country would collapse. Schools no longer teaching Cursive, math without computers and such. We didn't have GPS when I was in ARMY, magnetic compass and Topo's were a mandatory skill for Ground Pounders. What if your batteries die, GPS/Smartphone get damaged, could you find your way back to trailhead/safety? Yes GPS is a great help, but people are lazy and will eventually lose necessary skills to navigate if GPS dies.

How true.

In Boy Scouts we still teach map and compass, how to orient a map, finding your way at night (stars and moon), and finding your way during the day w/o compass.BUT, we now have to teach how to use a GPS. It is part of the rank requirements.

windwalker wrote:

We are getting so Electronic that in a few more years if we lost power our Country would collapse. Schools no longer teaching Cursive, math without computers and such. We didn't have GPS when I was in ARMY, magnetic compass and Topo's were a mandatory skill for Ground Pounders. What if your batteries die, GPS/Smartphone get damaged, could you find your way back to trailhead/safety? Yes GPS is a great help, but people are lazy and will eventually lose necessary skills to navigate if GPS dies.

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Nuvi 2460LMT.

times changed

It's just sign of changing times. I went with paper maps for years, still can do. But using them mostly for planing long distance trips, as you have better overview of big areas. But I'm not fan of driving with them. Especially, when all the sudden you find yourself on some detour in the middle of the night. Good luck to match road in some deserted area with map at night.

But I'm still using my old 770 but with updated maps. Sometimes just to have arrival time shown. Phone somehow doesn't work for me, even as I have Here maps there. Occasionally I will use it, if I don't have Nuvi with me.

As for teaching math and other stuff in school on computers. At work I have to prepare data for other use that sometimes contains few hundred thousand records. And I need them for "now or even sooner". With pen and paper I'm looking for weeks of fun. Technology makes task easier, but creates demands for more data in shorter time. So if you learn how to use it in school it makes your life easier in adult life.

Bring back the paper maps -

Bring back the paper maps - backup always needed.

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Garmin Drive Smart 61 NA LMT-S

Can you get by without Google Maps/Waze?

I did for years. Most days I don't need navigation assistance. If I know I'll be traveling through a lot of unfamiliar areas I use my GPS. I love that my phone can provide guidance on those occasions where something comes up where I need navigation unexpectedly. Nothing wrong with a 'belt and suspenders' approach. wink

the verdict

was that I did survive, but I really had to make educated guesses which way to go, in conjunction with AM radio. Very hard to know whether I should take which bridge, or if I should exit here, or pass through...I survived though.

I could

I have no doubt I could, but what a PITA to navigate with paper. Talk about distracted driving...

I just came back from Michigan, and have both Google maps, and HERE on the phone. And, on my backup phone. Yes, I carry a backup when traveling, just in case.

The smartphone maps made getting around easy in the rental, and I didn't need to bring the Garmin. But, I did bring my dash cam.

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

My Opinion

I would never use Google for anything.

It Depends

In my eyes, the OP posed a question that is far too narrow.

As it happens, I have NEVER used Google Maps/Waze. On the other hand, I would not want to do without my GPS and have to fall back on paper maps - which I used exclusively for the first 60 years of my life.

At the time, the paper maps got the job done for me, but today's electronic equivalents make things a LOT easier, and I have never been fond of "make work" activity in any form.

I could get by without my GPS, but I would prefer avoiding the need to do so.

- Tom -

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XXL540, GO LIVE 1535, GO 620

so true

-et- wrote:

I could get by without my GPS, but I would prefer avoiding the need to do so.

Which is the main reason that an eTrex comes along in my travel briefcase, just in case my 3597 is somehow not available to me.

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personal GPS user since 1992

I could do without it very easily

Since I only use Google maps to give me traffic and I don't use Waze. It seems to me the OP was also having a hard time without the overall use of his smartphone. I call that a Single Point of Failure (SPOF), which is typically a sign of poor planning. It's another reason I don't mind having separate devices for various tasks as opposed to relying on my phone for everything.

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NUVI 350

Yes, I agree but I feel you should still teach Basics

Computers' are great but Schools should still teach the basic's also. Example, ever been in a retail establishment when power goes out. Clerks can not even count change back anymore.

I agree.

But even if they could, most stores would shut down because the inventory will not be automatically updated if power is down.

I;ve never used Waze and have only used Google maps on laptop a couple of times. I do have HERE on a tablet in my daily case. Smartphone does not have any apps, all I want on that is call, text and voicemail. Email is on laptop and tablet, but most answering of email is done in office or at home.

I usually have an atlas, no more than 4-5 years old, in the trunk, when I travel, just in case.

Yes, putting everything on a Smartphone is just asking for dependency problems. My stepdaughter went in to withdrawal-like symtopms when she lost her phone while traveling.

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I never get lost, but I do explore new territory every now and then.

Honestly I can't anymore. I

Honestly I can't anymore. I already know the route of the most common places I go to. However, for new destinations, the up to date POI of Waze/Google is absolutely fantastic, paired with dynamic traffic routing.

yes, and no

Like most, I know all my local routes but when preparing to visit someplace new I do use computer maps and routing. In doing this, I learn which roads are primary on my route and get an idea of available secondary routes. My backup to the routes and destinations loaded into the GPS are always hard copy maps either from an atlas or the state maps available at all welcome centers.

(I do like stopping at the welcome centers as they are ALWAYS a wealth of information about side trips and attractions you may miss going from one border to the next.)

Like many, I have also noticed more and more people lack the basic skills of looking at and understanding what information is on a printed map. I would venture to guess over half of the people under the age of 50 could not identify any highway symbol outside the Interstate one.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

Yellow Pages

Shooter wrote:

Like other folks on this post, I learned how to navigate with paper maps and can still get around that way if necessary. But also like other folks, I like having Google (or Apple) maps to find the address of a POI. A paper map will only help you if you know where you are going to begin with. Otherwise, you need something called a “Telephone Book” or the “Yellow Pages”

Which is where the app "Yelp" got its name.

in a way

it's amazing that prior to May 2016, I used Garmin. It's unfathomable how much time was wasted as the traffic is not effective. Again, discovered by mistake, Memorial Day weekend in the Sarasota area, needing to get to Daytona area. Google maps likely saved 2-3 hours of time, times 4 occupants. I was sold ever since...

I Find

johnnatash4 wrote:

it's amazing that prior to May 2016, I used Garmin. It's unfathomable how much time was wasted as the traffic is not effective. Again, discovered by mistake, Memorial Day weekend in the Sarasota area, needing to get to Daytona area. Google maps likely saved 2-3 hours of time, times 4 occupants. I was sold ever since...

Garmin's newer "Live" traffic via the smartphone link app is comparable to Google. Garmin's older traffic versions, which used FM signals, weren't nearly as accurate.

In my experience, Waze is slightly more accurate on major highways due to it's crowd sourced reporting.

me too

bdhsfz6 wrote:

Garmin's newer "Live" traffic via the smartphone link app is comparable to Google. Garmin's older traffic versions, which used FM signals, weren't nearly as accurate.

In my experience, Waze is slightly more accurate on major highways due to it's crowd sourced reporting.

I have found the newer traffic is very good, at least in a big city. Last week I got a verbal notice that there was an accident ahead, then a split screen showing an overturned car and the distance/time ahead.

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. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

this

thread reminded me I might as well get paper maps for Vancouver and Seattle. I do like to open them and look at the entire area, as opposed to laptop or phone.

I did notice, that with the car GPS oriented north (like a map), my wife was totally unable to determine how to cut a corner in our own town. I'm not trying to make my wife look stupid, rather, illustrating that at some age cutoff, it's likely younger folks don't know how to do things nor do they feel the need. My own brother cannot change a tire, and has no interest in changing his own oil.

btw I keep the car GPS oriented north so that I can see where I am, in the event I want to know if a side street can cut through and avoid a line of traffic...

Yes and Yes

I never use Google Maps.

I just took a look at Waze, may use it to augment my normal navigation app, Garmin N. America on an iPhone.

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When you are dead, you don’t know that you are dead. It is only difficult for the others. It is the same when you are stupid.

 

diesel wrote:

I never use Google Maps.

I just took a look at Waze, may use it to augment my normal navigation app, Garmin N. America on an iPhone.

I don't use Google Maps very often, and I use Waze once in a while. But you can get a very good performing smart phone for about $200, no need to spend $700.

Don’t use them

So, yes

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"You can't get there from here"

pointless to extend

Discussion about which system is better is pointless at this point. They all have faults. If you want almost perfect navigation you need total surveillance and control on roads. If every car can be identified on road you will have enough info to route efficiently. It will include perfect traffic info, it's flow, accidents and optimal route for you to take. Right now you just stuck with partial info and less than optimal choice.

Example of perfect navigation you can see in fully automated plants. All traffic is monitored in them and directed. Is this what you want on public roads in exchange for perfect navigation device?

Why Not?

grzesja wrote:

Discussion about which system is better is pointless at this point. They all have faults. If you want almost perfect navigation you need total surveillance and control on roads. If every car can be identified on road you will have enough info to route efficiently. It will include perfect traffic info, it's flow, accidents and optimal route for you to take. Right now you just stuck with partial info and less than optimal choice.

Example of perfect navigation you can see in fully automated plants. All traffic is monitored in them and directed. Is this what you want on public roads in exchange for perfect navigation device?

A "total surveillance" system exists for global shipping called AIS. It tracks the location of most vessels everywhere on the planet.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-12.1/cent...

There is an app available for it. Really a hoot to play with!!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marinetraffic-ship-tracking/...

Why not something similar for vehicles?

privacy

bdhsfz6 wrote:

Why not something similar for vehicles?

There is a little sticking point about vehicle tracking called privacy. A vehicle tracking system would need to only track a vehicle by its position when moving on a public road. It could not report anything to do with the starting point or ownership. That aside, there are systems out that do allow tracking the owner has given the permissions to allow. Hyundai is advertising one now and On Star has been around for years.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.