Atlas vs. GPS

As a Jesuit, I try to see the glory of God in all things.  I will attempt to do that in this post.  However, I do have a bias--I had an awful experience with a GPS.  I, in part, blame it on my sister, but I still like her pretty decently.  Maybe I'll forgive the GPS at some point as it may also be New York's fault.  But here we go:

The summer of freshman year of college, I went to Washington, DC to visit my sister Betsy.  It was a wonderful time.  From there, we drove up the East Coast to Fairfield, CT, where I had a meeting of the Jesuit Colleges/University on social justice.  She drove up to visit another friend a bit north of there.  Afterward, I needed to drove back west to Kansas and Betsy needed to get back to DC.  We decided the easiest thing to do would be to drop her off at the train station in NYC and for me to head out from there on I-80.  She bought her ticket from the station in Chinatown, the very lower end of Manhattan.  She jumped out of the car with my credit card because the cops were pretty prickly about "No standing."  I got lost from there, with the GPS telling me, "Turn Left on 7th, now."  It doesn't help when you're at the intersection of 7th St. and 7th Ave...  I ended up taking the Lincoln Tunnel, the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and many other confusing roads in my desperate attempt to get out of NYC.  I did (until I got sent back here).

So, now that we have that bias out in the open, let's have a good discussion of their virtues and faults.  We'll do cons first, so you leave with a feeling of their goods, since Jesuit discernment says you should always discern between two goods.

Demonstrating appropriate map use.

GPS Cons:
1) The awful voice.  I'm not going to lie, this is one of my number one pet peeves.  "In a quarter mile, turn right.  In 857 feet, turn right.  In 20 feet, turn right."  Yes!  I know!  I'm turning right!  I brushed my teeth as well, thank you!  Pet peeve aside, here come the actual values.

2) No good map.  The screens are relatively small, and the map often shifts while you're driving.  Better ones you can change mode.  But you're still trying to look at a very small map.  You might be on a very busy road and want an alternate route.  The GPS can do that often, but if you're either super rural and there's maybe a neighboring US highway, or super urban and everything is jammed, it's hard not having a map just to look at in big scale.

3) The listed "attractions" are often things like Six Flags or minigolf.  Not interested.

4) Finally, and probably most importantly, I think it takes away from the sense of adventure.  To quote Mason Jennings, "If you never get lost, you can never get found."  That, my friends, is an important thought for both adventuring spiritually and physically.  It creates a bit of dependence on it.  "Well, who cares, just toss on the GPS and we'll be fine."  Essentially, it takes away the skill of adventure, and that's no good.

Atlas Cons:
1) You can't update it, unless you buy a new one.

2) That's a lot of paper.  (But at least it's recyclable)

3) Hard to make quick decisions.  You usually have to plan stuff ahead of time.

4) Those are the only cons.

This is an actual GPS.  I'm not judging, though....

GPS Pros:
1) Updates.

2) Good if you're by yourself and you can't look down at written directions.  Though that voice is awful, at least it's there.

Atlas Pros:
1) AWESOME attractions listed.  Museums, sites, scenic routes, etc.  Has it all.

2) HUGE MAP.  It's perfect for dreaming, thinking of adventures, ease of activities.  All sorts of great stuff.

3) The big picture in general.  Easy to plan around construction, find alternate routes, etc.

Final decision:  I've got to go with the atlas.  It inspires as well as directs, which I think is important.  Though the GPS systems have improved and are great, they do begin to fail after a few years.  Atlases have a timeless quality about them.  They teach you how to navigate and adventure and spring ideas for other adventures or other ways to get there.

Coming up: Winter is cold.  Suck it up and go on an adventure anyways.