Instead of just covering various GPS systems, I wanted to take a moment and talk about GPS’s, in general—what they are and how they’ve changed our lives. Right now, I can think of a few ways that GPS’s have changed my life. For one, I became fascinated with everything GPS a few years ago. That resulted in several websites on the subject and literally hundreds of articles, which have been republished all over the Internet. The other thing is that I’ve given up maps.

I actually love maps…real maps. You know, paper maps that tear along the creases. I love compasses. I used to do orienteering when I was a Boy Scout. Now, although I have a collection of zillions of maps, I don’t use them anymore. Why not? Well, my GPS is so much easier to use. (There could be a problem with this, which I’ll talk about in a moment.)

It’s only been ten years since President Clinton opened up the GPS satellite system to commercial, civilian use. At first, the satellites, which power the GPS grid were for military use only. Like the deregulation of ATT years ago, this access to GPS technology spawned a whole new industry. Now, we have GPS’s in cars, after market GPS’s, GPS’s for golf, running, boating, flying, and fishing. We’ve got GPS technology in our phones. Heck we can even put it under the epidermis of our dogs. (What’s next? Our kids?)

I love GPS’s in particular and technology, in general. So, I’m not trying to be some sort of luddite, here. All technological advances, however, carry the seeds of loss of privacy, and with that loss of civil rights. And we have to keep this in mind with GPS technology.

It wasn’t but a few short months ago, that our current President (Obama) suggested that we install GPS’s in everyone’s car in order to control gasoline usage. That’s certainly a “green” thought. But it’s also a dangerous thought. I just read an article about the amazing amount of data that Facebook compiles and sells on its users. Just think what Uncle Sam could do with detailed knowledge of where you drive, when you drive, how long you’re parked in various places. Couple this with the fact that census workers are supposed to get the coordinates of the front doors of the residences they visit, and…you have the stuff that conspiracy movies are made of.

Science fiction aside…(or is it sci-fi?) …GPS technology is really cool. I especially love the trend that Garmin is taking lately of merging GPS’s, cell phones, and mobile Internet browsers. My dream would be to have a device that single-handily took care of all of my information technology needs. I don’t know what you would call it. (Let me know, if you have any ideas.)

What can we expect in the near future for GPS technology? Personally, I think we’re headed in the direction of single device integration. I hope, however, that this is more than just one device with a zillion icons, just sort of a portal where you choose the app you need. I hope that we can get this down to the point where we have apps that do more and handle more. Think spreadsheet, word processor, PowerPoint, Internet browser, media collector/player combination. One app that does more. I think it’s going to be a while before we get there.

BTW, here’s an article I read in PCMag that sort of launched me on this track.

Enough playing around. I’ve got to crank out a few more product announcements and reviews.

Lee