"Think of it as evolution in action"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12360687

"A four-year-old girl died in a car crash after her parents followed
sat-nav instructions which contradicted road signs, an inquest heard."

 

There's no defence against stupidity.

 

I think we'll see more of it as the devices become ubiquitous. I was a
car with a peron of the XX persuasion, who, having found the squawk box
tried to direct her down a oneway road drove in circles for 15 minutes.

 

The new Tosspot Evita 1.3?

 

Beats me why people slavishly follow what a Sat-Nav says whilst totally
ignoring the evidence directly in front of their eyes.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Paul - xxx

Because (and this may come as a surprise to you) some people and very,
very stupid.

Actually, that may be a little unfair, there's a psychological thing
going on here. I remember some research years ago where the researchers
gave people some relatively simple calculations which they had to do
manually, then check with a calculator.

The calculator had been doctored to give incorrect results. Most people
took the calculator's "word" for it, and altered their own (correct)
results.

 

It's an "authority" thing, isn't it? The SatNav or calculator surely
can't be wrong. It's a bit like

 

As previously mentioned, they're idiots.
I've encountered the "trying to direct me the wrong way down a one way
street" thing once, I just hit the settings->road block button and forced it
to recalculate the route.

Some people still think computers are never wrong and thus drive into the
sea rather than await the ferry.

 

You seem to have found the missing part of my post!

 

Maybe. I probably can't understand it as I've always used maps to find
my way until Sat-Nav came along. I've never treated it as anything
more than a bit of a help! Other than using it to find, log and record
off-road and green-lane routes.

Mostly our Sat-Nav keeps the wife quiet, though I often shout at it and
go a different way "'cos I know better" ..

 

Wrong question. First ask yourself why people feel the need to buy a sat
nav in the first place.

 

I had a bloke ranting and blowing his horn at me yesterday because I was
on the wrong side of the road.

He very quickly drove away when it was pointed out he was on a one way
street, going the wrong way...

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

Heh .. I have one for probably the last two miles of a journey ...

I also use one (using Memory Map so GPS, not Sat-Nav as such) for
logging off-road routes.

 

I had something similar when I was riding along a road near Wembley
stadium and two cars coming the other way, one on my side of the road,
started flashing frantically at me.

Then I realised. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!

 

Friend of mine recently came home from a year of volunteering on a wildlife
reserve in South Africa. It's great, apparently, you get taught all sorts
of things about the animals, shooting, tracking and looking after yourself
in the bush.

He went to visit his parents in Conwy and apparently had great difficulty
escaping from Wales again because the satnav had got confused and was
insisting he should drive in completely the wrong direction.

He worked out eventually that it was because the Sun is in a different
place in this hemisphere.

 

Heh.

Is The Doctor the only person who turns a map around, as we go round a
roundabout or tight bend or similar? I strongly suspect it's a wimmin
thing.

 

Yes, it's true of most women, IME. Heads-up, sorta thing.

I was given to understand that this is a standard way they teach
map-reading in the Army. Bloody stupid idea, if you ask me.

Although I must confess I've now got used to the 3d, heads-up, style
of display used on many sat-navs when giving directions. In this mode
it gives you a much better picture of what the approaching road layout
is like, from your own perspective, and is much more intuitive. But a
2D display, be it on paper or screen, should remain fixed with N up,
at all times.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, "TOG@Toil"

Ah, the age-old "North-up vs Track-up" debate.

I was actually taught to orient the map track-up when flying.

 

I use track-up when off-roading, just seems to make sense when you're
trying to pinpoint landmarks.

 

It's a bit sucky though when you're trying to build up a mental map of an
area: because it keeps swivelling around it's more difficult to recognise
places you've been before.