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[–] nottelling@lemmy.world 40 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Yup, was a Garmin. Part of me has been a little worried cause i can't find my way anywhere without GPS anymore, and Google has been getting shittier every day.

Hell, I remember the first time I used maps on a computer to plan and print a route, and the first time I could do it online with MapQuest.

Those were moments that the Internet really felt like the future.

[–] mipadaitu@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I used to tape maps to the gas tank of my motorcycle on trips.

Then mapquest became useful and I taped printed directions. Made it a lot easier.

Then I got a Garmin waterproof, handlebar mounted GPS and it was glorious, though you had to buy map updates every couple years.

Eventually phones were actually able to be used for directions and I kept a phone connected to a homemade battery pack in my jacket pocket, with an earbud under my helmet, so I just listened to directions and music.

Finally got a phone connected to a handlebar mount, plugged into the bike power, with a Bluetooth headset built into the helmet. Probably the least safe of the options, but I can listen to podcasts, audiobooks, music and see the maps while it directs me with audio, just like a car display would.

[–] logi@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

I rode from the UK to northern Italy with nothing but an early hiking go's unit that had no map. Just an arrow pointing to Torino. The trip over the Alps was very random.

[–] BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

I'm still not sure how i found anything before gps was a thing. I remember getting my licence and my first trip with a friend. He printed out like 20 pages of google maps. He sat next to me and went through it like a person wo went mad on the nautilus. Halfway through it, he threw it all on the backseat and only kept the last page and said: "we're looking for some place that sounds like hitler and then 15 min later we go left and there is a house with a dragon in the yard.

We never took a wrong turn on the whole trip. Same at work, i would get a bad printout of a city block where i wasn't even sure where it was. And somehow after driving around in circles for a bit i would always magically find it.

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[–] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It tells you which direction something is in, but can't help plot a route to get there.

[–] TechGuy@discuss.online 9 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I still use my Garmin Geko even now. Useful as a basic device recording a track I can geocode photos with, and runs for days on two AAA batteries. In a pinch you can reverse a track and go back the way you came too 😅

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[–] Servais@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 month ago

Nice device!

[–] squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de 21 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I still remember printing out google maps directions, then missing one turn and then being completely lost.

[–] Elaine@lemm.ee 8 points 1 month ago

The number of times I had to stop and recalibrate with the paper map was high!

[–] itsathursday@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I used to geocache this way because I couldn’t afford a GPS. Finding caches took some time!

[–] owenfromcanada@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yep. Seemed pretty shiny compared to printing off directions from MapQuest. Then we figured out how to customize the voice, and it was shenanigans from there.

[–] AnarchoSnowPlow@midwest.social 3 points 1 month ago

Man, TomTom had some kickass ones. Vader was on mine for too long.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 10 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Alternate question: do any of you (maybe a bit older than 35) remember the last time you bought an updated paper map for your area, or one for a road trip? They used to be at most checkout lanes in many stores.

I can already hear the "maps on paper? How could you find anything?"

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Maybe five years ago?

I like having paper maps in the "oh shit" bag

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, I get paper maps of my area. For hiking, but I think it still counts.

The last time I used a paper map for driving? Probably early aughts

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would guess that hiking or trail maps are probably much more detailed than a road map, so that makes sense that it would still be a thing, although certainly digital versions have made some dent in them. Electronics are a bit more susceptible to the environment and the need for power though, so maybe not as much for those reasons.

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 3 points 1 month ago

Yep, right on. For a day hike or simple trail, I'll trust my phone maps and Garmin GPS. Anything beyond that, I'm bringing a map and compass as a backup because they don't require power and the good ones still work even if wet.

Even for a simple day hike, I'll usually print out a map because it's quicker than using my phone.

[–] hissingmeerkat@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

No, because if I need information I stop at information places at the border and get a map for free. Sometimes you can get whole guidebooks full of maps and directions and interpretive information for free. I picked up maps or guidebooks multiple times this year.

[–] PumaStoleMyBluff@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I do still use my city's paper bike route maps, although they're free. I rarely use them to get to a specific place, though, just for planning where I can make a contiguous loop I haven't done before.

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[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

I remember how tedious using maps to get anywhere was.

Last week I traveled through some rural desert backroads and Apple Maps got me there no problem, but it had taken me on an indirect route. As I was driving I discovered that it was because a number of the roads were completely closed. If I had been using maps I would have had to stop and figure out the detours on my own.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago
[–] johsny@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Garmin nuvi 250, and then shortly after that a Garmin Nuvi 500, which I still use almost every day when I drive.

Almost 20 years old.

[–] gramie@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 month ago

In 2001, I rented a van in Japan. Digital mapping is essential for Japan, because most streets have no names, and house numbering is almost completely random, often based on the year they were built rather than any linear sequence.

It was incredible to me to be able to punch in a destination and see the map. At the time, I don't think it could speak the directions to you. And you could search for nearby restaurants and gas stations too!

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Hertz rent a car on a business trip. It was this little box with a yellow display that would ding when it was time to turn. I thought it was so cool!

[–] DrBob@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

Yes. I remember seeing them advertised on a trip to Japan and not fully understanding how they even worked. It really seemed like the future. It was a few years before they were available here and prices came down enough to use it. My first trip was navigating home from Fry's

[–] Servais@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 month ago

I do, the GPS maps was of course outdated, and brought us to the most random mud trail in the area.

It had potential, but definitely a lot of things to improve.

[–] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 5 points 1 month ago

I couldn't tell you the specifics, but back in the 1990's, we had GPS devices that just had an LCD read-out of your latitude and longitude, so you could find your position on a paper map. They were on the market as survey devices, but were also useful for wilderness travelers.

It's hard to recall exact dates, because the devices developed incrementally, and navigation mode on Google Maps didn't spring into existence ask at once.

[–] 11111one11111@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I remember shitting on a friend 3ndlessly for his dependency on his Garmin style GPS. The go to was that he couldn't find his own dick with out his GPS. One day it's just the two of us coming back from the city. He's yelling at me to use the GPS as I was the passenger but being the asshole I am refused to turn it on and told him if he cant find the two turns to get on the expressway than we weren't meant to go home. We'll fuck me if he didn't fuck up missing every on ramp which then led to him trying to just stay under the overpasses hoping to run into another on ramp. Finally I decided to fold and give him directions when he actually turns onto the walking path that takes pedestrians along the water front 🤣🤣🤣 fucking worth every minute we wasted. Motherfucker could lift a ton, but was too dumb to spell it.🤣

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 month ago

I remember the first time I used one, but not for technically getting anywhere. It was the mid 90s I think, childhood memories are hard to place exactly.

My dad bought a GPS device for work and let me play with it a little. It was an even older model from the late 80s probably. Alphanumeric display only, it couldn't even draw an arrow let alone a map.

I tried to follow the instructions from the manual to make it do something. I remember wanting to navigate to the other end of the back yard. But the manual was all in English and I couldn't figure it out in the end.

[–] rhythmisaprancer@moist.catsweat.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On my first smart phone ca. 2014, I had Here Maps (a Nokia product I think?). I didn't have any data plan, and that mapping service didn't require it. I don't think I ever used it, but that may be the first. Otherwise, earlier this year I used my work phone and whatever it has for navigation. I hated it 😅 I clearly liked knowing directions more then one turn out.

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[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 month ago

Yes. I took a trip to Ireland and rented a car. I had a Garmin GPS unit which I purchased for the trip and was extremely helpful.

I remember the first time I saw GPS units at the electronics store. It seemed like some crazy military grade thing from a movie.

[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I don't make the cut since I'm 33 but I remember being 10 and my dad had a directional only GPS where you could put down coordinates of a place and get the direction needed to go towards it.

I had the GPS and my dad was winging it without a map and me asked his friend if it's left or right and I said the GPS pointed to the right or whatever when they would he guessed left. They went for it and I navigated couple of roads and found a shorter path.

It's a pretty nice memory I have of my dad which passed away 8 years ago. Thanks for reminding me

[–] jpreston2005@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes. I was prepared though, I had directions from Mapquest printed out and ready to go in case it messed up. I was using an early-gen Garmin GPS that was just a GPS. It did mess up quite a bit, and I had to take it inside, plug it into my computer to update maps. It also could only hold so much, so I had to limit the maps I had available to just my city.

I first used MapQuest in HS (2000) and it took us so far out of the way just to use a main road.

[–] leds@feddit.dk 2 points 1 month ago

Proabably for hiking ...

[–] hissingmeerkat@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

No, because printing directions off the internet from mapquest etc. has been around almost forever, and although I used GPS a lot to measure positions I never had a smartphone until quite late (2010 I think), so by the time I used GPS to get somewhere no part of it was special or new.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

I did pizza delivery for years without GPS.

[–] twinnie@feddit.uk 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

We had a really early one in the 90s, like way earlier than anyone else we knew, in a car we bought from some rich guy. We only used it once or twice as a novelty as my Dad always insisted he knew better. Plus it had its maps loaded up using some CD which was really out of date and it wasn’t like you could type in McDonalds and it would take you to the closest one, you had to put the whole address in and even then I think it wouldn’t find it half the time.

The first one I got was a gift in the 00s and it was bloody awful. Once I t turned me off a perfectly straight road to drive through a graveyard and then put me back on the road I had been on. Another time it turned me off and sent me down the only toll-road in the UK, then got me off at the first exit and put me back on the toll-road in the opposite direction to get me off at the place I’d got into it earlier. I had to pay twice to go nowhere and it added five minutes to my journey.

Just to add, when people came round our house in the late 90s my Dad would make me turn on the computer to show them MS Autoroute, which was an offline piece of software that was used to generate routes, basically what Google Maps does now with directions, but it would just give you something to print out. Really useful for the day and you could even get it to estimate how much the fuel would cost, etc.

[–] IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Used GPS on boats as early as the late 1980’s, back when selective availability was still a thing. For those unfamiliar with it, GPS was initially military-only, and when they allowed civilian use they were concerned that US adversaries could use it for precision attacks. So SA was included in the civilian version, which introduced a random error of up to something like 1000 yards.

The truly ironic thing is that the US Coast Guard (a branch of the very military that created SA) saw the usefulness of GOS for marine navigation, but only if SA was removed. 1000 yards could easily mean the difference between a boat running aground (or worse) or not.

So the USCG built ground stations that would receive GPS signals, calculate the SA error, and broadcast a fixed signal. That was called Differential GPS, or DGPS. Boaters could buy special DGPS receivers for years, which were as accurate as GPS without the SA error.

Eventually the military was convinced to do away with SA entirely so DGPS was retired. It was only after that happened that GPS became globally useful for car, hiking, etc. navigation.

[–] pno2nr@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

First time I used a Garmin device to mark where we dropped crab pots in the Puget Sound. Saved a lot of time hunting for our buoys.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago

A friend of mine insisted on bringing a GPS for our bicycle trip through Europe.

From the beginning, the GPS took center stage.
At every fork in the road, instead of broadly riding in the right direction, we had to stop so he could determine which was the correct path on the tiny black-and-white display.
And half the time, he was wrong. The punch line came when a bike path he found on his device turned out to be a stair going up a 200m high hill. Took us 2 hours to get up there cause we first had to carry our bikes up, then our luggage.

The first half of the trip he spent hours trouble-shooting the connector he had built himself to keep the GPS batteries charged off the hub dynamo.
The second half of the trip we had to book camp-sites or hostels most of the time, instead of just sleeping under the stars, because the charger still didn't work, but THE DEVICE NEEDS POWER.

tl/dr: it sucked a lot of fun out of the trip. And it made me avoid all electronics on bicycle trips ever since.

Now when I ride, my phone stays in my pocket (for emergencies). I navigate by the sun when it's shining and a compass otherwise.
At the end of the day, I'll look at a paper map to see if I'm broadly in the right place and to plan the next day.
The only time I'll use my phone to navigate is when the bike breaks down or I run out of water, to find the quickest way to get help.

[–] MorrisonMotel6@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah, it was one of these when I was in the army: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Lightweight_GPS_Receiver

This didn't necessarily precede civilian GPS devices, but this was during the accuracy "embargo." Certainly though, GPS devices available to the public were cost prohibitive at that time. Later, someone bought me a Garmin for because they thought it would be useful to me in the military. I didn't have the heart to tell them I'd never need it because of the existence of very accurate military GPS devices. It was a very thoughtful gift from a family member who was a veteran

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'm 37, and yes. Along with the laptop I took to college in 2007, I bought a copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips that came with a USB GPS receiver. The software itself worked fairly well, the GPS receiver worked badly twice and then completely gave up. Used that software for several years to print maps and directions on paper to refer to on the road until Google Maps surpassed it.

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[–] scytale@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Visited the US for the first time on a work trip in 2013. The rental we got had a garmin gps included. Then I think it was around 2015-ish when I used Waze for the first time in my own car.

[–] AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

We bought one for a trip and it stopped working halfway through. Never got connection back. Fortunately we wrote down directions as backup.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 month ago

Yep. Borrowed the GPS head unit (Garmin, I think) from my cousin with money for a road trip to SF.

I remember that it worked great until we got to the city itself, then the buildings made it hard to get line of site to 3 satellites. So we ended up printing a bunch of maps from our hotel's business center anyway. But it got us there and made it easier to find gas stations along the way.

[–] GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yes. We ended up lost on our hike while using it.

Second time was better, we were geocaching and were able to find quite a few if them. Although it might have been easier to find using points on a map with a compass.

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