[ale] [OT] Please Help me with my homework

[Lightner, Jeff]

I agree both points.  I've already related a couple of bizarre routings
it gave me in a previous post.

Of course Mapquest/Google Maps isn't always up to date.   When I lived
in NC I kept trying to find my way to a supposedly nearby Kroger and the
way Mapquest kept telling me to go just didn't work.   When I finally
found the Kroger I noticed the road near it was the one MQ had said I
should be on so went back that way and figured out the problem.    At
some point one road that I was on had simply "become" another road name
and in turn "became" that final road name so the directions MQ had given
me was based on that.   A few months before I moved to NC they had
reworked things so that the road name was now a left turn off the road I
started on.   Since the name wasn't the final name it never occurred to
me I should turn there.   I suspect paper maps would have a tendency to
be even less up to date than online maps. 

My GPS on the other hand gets not only road updates but traffic updates
via satellite so can route me around backups and odd road changes like
the above (with enough notice - it is often better on planned
constructions than those caused by accidents but this seems likely to me
to be a matter of timing of reporting - backups that have lasted an hour
or more do typically cause a recalculation of route).

However, in 2 years of using the GPS I have a more favorable impression
of it than not.   It has in fact routed me to most destinations very
well and when I've compared its routes to those given by things like
MapQuest and Google Maps when they give differing routes I've not seen
that one route would have added to my drive time significantly over the
other.   It simply seems to be a matter of different choices that are
equally efficient.

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Paul
Cartwright
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 9:21 AM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] Please Help me with my homework

On 4/4/2011 8:54 AM, Geoffrey Myers wrote:
> My experiences with GPSs indicate:
>
> 1.  They don't always pick the best route.
> 2.  They are wrong at times.
>
yeah, we went back to DC a few years ago, and I followed the GPS route
just for..grins.. It took me off the main highway & through a downtown
section that I WOULD NOT go into after dark! It might have been a few
miles shorter than following the beltway around, but I would NEVER tell
a tourist to go that route!!!

I remember YEARS ago, when we LIVED in Maryland, we were going to an
event at the Coleseum ( never been there before). It is at 2nd & M
street in DC.. so I drove there, and I was in an alley, behind
warehouses.. then I realized I needed to be at 2nd and M street NW, when
I was at 2nd & M street SE !!!! WHOAA!!!!!! yeah, there are like 4 M
streets in DC, NE, NW, SE, and SW ! You can talk about Boston streets,
but I think they did a real number when they created the DC street map!

-- 
Paul Cartwright

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