It blows my mind talking to my grandpa. His first question is how was traffic and the next is how did I get there. Then he'll say well next time take the 5 for 3.9 miles, then hop on 78 until you see the 420 then do a triple lane change to the 69 then you're home. And then I'm like sure thing grandpa I'll remember that for sure, as I'm tapping the home button on google maps lol.
My uncle was visiting a few months ago from overseas and I was driving him somewhere in my home town, and he off-handedly mentioned a different route he'd taken to get there in the 1960s lol
Then he’ll say well next time take the 5 for 3.9 miles, then hop on 78 until you see the 420 then do a triple lane change to the 69 then you’re home.
Without even knowing where those roads are I see you are on the West Coast.
Is this that "Californians" SNL sketch?
I had never seen that before... It's so accurate lmfao
Gen X and prior used a lot of landmarks to get from A to B where routes were commonly used. Landmark navigation is still heavily used today in places like India and Mexico where routes change hourly sometimes due to road closures and accidents that gps mapping cannot account for.
I once had to drive pre-google from Paris, France to Madrid, Spain and then to Valencia, Spain with nothing more than a AAA Auto Club map and a Philips Road Atlas. Not fun in many eays, but it was an adventure.
When grandpa asks "how did you get here" its a trap. Whatever answer you give will be wrong and will correct you with a lecture
This is California as fuck.
For some reason, I like to know when I will arrive.
Yeah GPS is equally about traffic now and not just navigating
i like to hear the voices guide me on my journey
Not me. I like the directions, but I turn the voice off.
I too like to have a countdown until anxiety sets in.
I'm almost 50 and I never remembered my way anyplace pre map apps. I'd far rather be navigated for.
I drove for a little while before gps was a thing, and I'm so glad to have it.
I used to print out mapquest directions if I was going across town.
God forbid we miss a turn.
Honestly they should just be pleased we don't have to spend as much effort and brain space as they did just for transit.
More time to doomscroll
Exactly they did not have internet porn back then.
I'll use Google maps to check for traffic on my route before leaving, but that's all.
If I'm going somewhere I've been more than two or three times, I don't use GPS.
I just like to have a little minimap following me like in a video game.
I use Waze whenever I drive, it also keeps me informed about accidents, cops, and other hazards.
But...what if the traffic changes after you leave?
Perhaps they have a short commute, or perhaps they have a phone mount in their car so they can see the traffic live on the map.
Or maybe they're just screwed
And then google tries sending me through backcountry roads because iT sAvEs EiGhT mInUtEs in a 5 1/2 hour drive, not realizing its hard to travel 80kph on dirt roads cutting through hilly residential areas.
Oh my god when we moved from Oklahoma to a town in the mountains of Vermont this issue made the last day of driving hell! It's my fault for not checking the route on such a big trip though.
We had visited this town several times and always drove in on a major interstate with no issues. Well when we were finally loaded up with the 26' U-haul and towing a car behind, I just selected the default route to our new address in VT.
It was fine up until the last day when we started to get to the mountains and to my horror it was taking us on these tiny one lane roads up extremely steep mountains and super narrow roads.
When going downhill I was braking as hard as I could and the U-Haul was barely even slowing down and the brakes would be smoking at the bottom. And on the way up I was flooring it and barely getting up to 20 mph sometimes.
It's a miracle the truck made it through the dirt roads at the end. We finally rolled into town on what I now know is a historic, scenic route that the leaf peepers like to take.
Note for future - even with an automatic transmission, you can shift into a lower gear (2 or even L) on a downhill to have the engine slow you down and save your brakes.
In my defense, I use it not because I don't know how to get where I need to go, but because it shows real time traffic info that could help me find another route to avoid said traffic rather than being stuck in that traffic. Driving through local roads to get to work sucks because sometimes it's fine but other times there are accidents or roadwork that causes backups.
Yeah, I once was driving to a routine place where there ended up being major roadwork that closed off a key stretch of road and the side streets ended up being a confusing maze. I eventually just ended up having to pull over and get the GPS out.
s/ancestors/wife
Seeing these little IT gems all over Lemmy always makes me smirk :)
I used to be really proud of being able to get anywhere without a GPS until I moved to the city. You could've been somewhere a million times but when they close streets seemingly at random a GPS becomes nearly impossible to drive without if you care about your time. Fast forward five years and now I use the GPS even to go to work every morning.
I use Waze any time my wheels roll. In the Boston area there is a huge input of data for the quickest route from A to B.
Are we getting native advertisements on Lemmy now too?
Or do you just genuinely like it that much?
I'm not a bot, nor a paid promoter.
Using Waze has allowed me to dodge items on the road such as:
Mattress, wheelbarrow, couple of paint cans, large pieces of shredded truck tires... lots of other stuff.
I also like the road kill warnings. No one wants to drive over a skunk. That shit stinks!
When I'm traveling a lot I like to cool off with an ice cold Coca Cola™. It keeps me hydrated and refreshed so I can get to where I'm going safely!
A trick to "learn" routes.. put the GPS in your pocket, and only listen to it... this way you start to spot the landmarks we used to use to navigate by.
But I like watching the little arrow
Fun fact: If you use Google Maps, and press on the arrow (while the navigation is started), you can change the arrow to 3 different cars.
I hate this because I accidentally tap the arrow even when I am not pressing on it. For example, when I want to select a different route, I try to tap the gray alternate route because it is efficient for EV energy(mostly not highway), and the menu pops up for selecting vehicles. I don't think that is a good place for it to be. It is distracting and could be in the settings. Most don't even know it is there until it is accidentally pressed and cause the driver to become distracted.
Watch the road 
Sometimes theres traffic and the gps lets you know to avoid it!
Yeah, I always use navigation even on very familiar routes. Saves me time when there's an accident or unexpected event ahead of my route.
you need GPS to go to the place youv'e been multiple times, because you have GPS. Your brain does a funny thing where it doesnt feel like it has to remember shit when you have the answer infront of you on a computer/phone/device cause it is basically using that device as its short term memory.
Same with phone numbers. We used to remember them, or at least a handful of the most important ones.
Nowadays it took me years just to memorise my own.
Yeah, having the internet in my pocket absolutely affects how much I commit to memory.
when my ancestors can find their way around a foreign country just as well as their home town, then I will accept criticism.
my ancestors watching me open my contacts list because I can't remember a single phone number (they're really invasive ancestors)
