Driving the competition . . . Part Two . . .
Using the car navigation system was definitely an interesting experience. At first, I blindly followed every direction. However, there was one direction that I found to be trouble until it could be deciphered a few days later -- "Stay straight on current route." This direction came up whenever a highway was splitting without benefit of an exit ramp. The first few times I kept on the same route number, but that turned out not to be what the car nav unit wanted. It wanted me to stay left on the dividing highway.
So I got to see how the unit did at highway speeds when it had sent me astray. Not as well. It does not recalculate on the fly without you giving it a direction to do so. In one instance, I had it recalculate while I was traveling down the wrong road at 65 miles an hour. The solution it arrived at was too late, since I had just passed that exit a couple of seconds before. So there was another recalculation, and this one sent me on local streets in the proper direction for a good ten miles before picking up a highway again. I wasn't lost, especially, but I wasn't entirely happy, either.
So now we had a crisis of confidence. I no longer unquestionably obeyed the voice command if there were any doubts (was it the next right or this right it wanted a turn on? How does it really know where on the exit ramp I should drive?). This led to further problems, since I was better off just following orders. I'd have been very happy if every order was perfectly explained, but that only happened 90% of the time.
More later . . . I'm being kicked off the computer. |
