What Will India do With Garmin GPS?
Garmin (one of the leaders in GPS technology) has announced that it has released the Asus Nuvifone G60 and M20 models in India. GPS technology is fairly new to India although it has become almost as essential as a mobile phone in the United States and Europe. I have used many portable GPS devices for navigation in the past five years. My favorite is the TomTom. TomTom is very simple to use and the maps used by TomTom are very accurate. Garmin GPS devices have a more sophisticated look but the user interface is a little more complicated.
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this news is what can an average Indian do with this device. Road maps that are available in India are not of good quality. Most of them provide very vague directions and many of the roads will be missing. In most parts of the country one cannot even use web sites like MapQuest or Google Maps for directions (GPS devices are only as good as the underlying maps they use. If the maps are outdated then the GPS will not be able to help you).
Then there is a question of safety. Driving is already a very dangerous business in India. Most Indian drivers are at best first or second generation drivers. The roads are completely underdeveloped and people share the road with bullock carts, horse carriages, wandering dogs, cows or elephants (in the case of Kerala), marriage or funeral procession, rickshaws, autos and most importantly pedestrians. Now can you imagine driving under these conditions and at the same time looking at the GPS for directions? This is a recipe for disaster (read my article about the introduction of Toyota Forerunner in India).
Most Indians who drive are very familiar with the area they are driving. Once we venture out it is a different issue. We have to stop at many different places and ask for directions. We have to become very familiar with things like trees, buildings, temples, and shops as reference points. I am not complaining but isn’t this one of the things that makes India interesting? I always enjoyed stopping at a roadside tea shop and drinking tea and eating some Vadai or Murukku and at the same time talking to fellow travelers and locals about their experiences (in many cases when you travel a few miles in India the local language or dialect changes dramatically. This makes traveling very challenging and at the same time very interesting).
This actually brings up a very important point. For me the traveling part is just as important as the destination. I enjoy the thrill of driving and watching the scenery pass by. I like to observe the farmers working on their paddy fields or kids having a good time jumping off the bridge into the river below. I like to talk with my friends or family that I am traveling with or sometimes drive for hours without uttering a word.
United States is a great country for driving enthusiast. The country is very big and the roads are great. But nowadays it is not as fun as it could be. Most people are either on the phone or listening to the radio. Most of the kids (and some adults) prefer watching movies rather than relax and observe what is going on outside. There is no communication or quiet time (time to reflect). Most of the stops are in rest areas (which has the same chain stores that you will find in your neighborhood mall). There is no interaction with the locals as the GPS will take you to your destination without anybody’s help. Sometimes I wonder whether we are in control of the technology or is the technology controlling our lifestyle.
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Category: Cuisine & Travel
i agree about the interesting factors abt stopping by and interacting with the locals. but there are a lot of long, humanless roads where a gps navigations might come handy. it may also be useful if the weather is not good enough to talk with the locals.
GPS will have useful applications (it can be used by walkers to track distance traveled, we can track vehicles and prevent auto theft and so on). It is useful in long empty roads but I am not sure about weather. I have noticed that GPS does not function properly (looses it signal) when it rains heavily or snows.
Thank you for taking the time and responding.
problem with these gadgets in India is that people will take it to ridiculous levels, i have never seen cell phone abuse like this anywhere else. before you know it they will be equipping bicycles, bullock carts and trains with gps! another excuse for the Indian to be late for something….sir, I lost my gps signal on the way….
I am sure pretty soon we will see bullock carts with GPS (as usual the driver will still be sleeping).