More than you want to know about GPS

Thanks. I enjoyed that. I was reminded of my Garmin GPS III Plus. It had a base map and you could add enriched detail into 1.44 MB memory.

I remember getting lost going to new places and having to add on extra time for my first and second trips. A couple times I actually just gave up and went back home.

As a very frequent pre-internet and pre-GPS business traveller I can remember always eating in the hotel because it was just too difficult to find a restaurant based on address and a paper map and often during darkness. When my employer bought me a GPS it was an awakening of finding new dining places!

YELP to the mix and you can find out other patrons experiences.

When we were travelling cross-country, I would plan the entire route ahead of time, marking up the National, Regional, and State maps that the AAA (Auto Club) publishes. I would then go in to the local AAA office and they would put together a Triptik booklet for me.

This was a loose-leaf binder with a series of custom-assembled pages inside. Each page had a relatively short section of highway on it, with printed notes on the page about locations of potential interest on that particular page.

In some ways it was a precursor to the GPS. It did not literally tell you where you were, but you could easily tell that by glancing at the page occasionally, and with the route planned in advance and marked on the page with a broad-tipped high-lighter, you could see in advance when a change in highway number was coming up.

Looking at what I have written, I see that it implies that this is all in the past, which is not true. The AAA still offers this service, but have added to the old paper versions with an electronic version that runs on the AAA app available for our phones.

In fact, thinking about it, I really should use that electronic version if and when I next take a long trip - if only for the nostalgia factor.

- Tom -

Many years ago friends invited me to join them on a long trip as well as a one week stay.
Told them I'll bring my Garmin GPS. I was told no need for that "We use trip ticks". Brought the GPS anyway. Connected it up in the car and since I'd pre-planned the route it kept telling us which Hwy and where to turn. At first my friends wife who was the TRIPTIK administrator kept saying, "Yes that's what triptik" says to do.
Once we arrived at our location I used the accommodation location as the HOME location. Every day from wherever we were to get "Home" I just told the GPS to take us home.

When we arrived back home, my friend could not wait to buy a Garmin GPS. No more triptiks !

A quite interesting read on GPS history.

very interesting

In the old days, I would have a Thomas Guide in the car.

Check the fascinating article at https://www.thedrive.com/news/34489/car-navigation-systems-b...

I don't actually print them out anymore but the software can be handy for doing rough route plots, getting mileage, and approximate time for trip segments.

Wow, those were the days. I too remember the "triptiks" from AAA.

This just in: "How Vulnerable Is G.P.S.?" in the NYer.

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-vuln...