[gulerianeeraj]

Though I’m not able to Vote I don’t know because of what reason. I’m all in for using GPS and having fun while driving

1. It’s an insurance that you’re on correct track. You don’t always have to look at the screen just to keep moving.
2. Gives you an idea about your arrival time hence you can plan few more things along the road instead of reaching at your destination and doing nothing.
3. I seldom look at the navigation while driving and I’m still dependent on signboards along highways. Thus having the best of the both worlds.
4. You can actually enjoy your journey in a relaxed manner instead of focusing on road all the times.
5. Bypasses provided by Google maps considering traffic and road conditions is a blessing. During my last highway drive at Surat the road was jammed for 6 hours and google took us via bypass and we saved good 5 hours that day.
6. City driving. You have to go with the maps no matter how well versed you are with your city considering you can’t predict traffic conditions in advance.

[Tucker48]

I started with Nokia maps (excellent at that time) and then moved to mapmyindia before settling to Google maps. Google was quite late to the party.
I liked and made use of GPS on small screen symbian devices. But again GPS was and still is not always right. In Nokia days, when I was new to Bombay, i ended up on one way road (yes wrong way). In 2011, mapmyindia took me to road which had potholes bigger than my car (I took a u turn and that was a state highway). Last week Google asked me to drive on a non motorable road (for 4 wheelers).
GPS isn't for our daily drives, in fact it gives us the strength and courage to go to unknown roads and explore as much as one can.
Last year coming back from Nasik, I didn't come back to Mumbai through the obvious route (NH) because I wanted to explore and drove through villages, small roads as I wanted to explore the country side. Would that be possible without GPS?
In 2012, we drove through Melghat tiger reserve, on roads where we saw bamboo houses with no ground floor and one village barricaded by bamboo. Would that be possible without GPS especially when there is communication gap with the locals.
GPS is a blessing and makes driving(traveling) more adventurous.

[maheshm619]

Considering the perspective of a non-local person taking such a trip, I would say the "thrill" factor remains as long as one is in a safe location.I have driven extensively in and around (urban/rural) Maharashtra,Kerala & Uttar Pradesh.

While getting lost in the MH & KL means that we loose some time getting to the right track and gaining some views/new spots along the way, the thrill in getting lost somewhere in UP quickly transforms to fear & mental tension.

While travelling with family, such thrills are better to be avoided.Hence GPS all the way.

[dicor]

Taking the adventure away!!! Cmon. It has added a new dimension to the adventure.

Fun begins when Online maps (Google Maps) says route A, Offline Map says route B and local says Route C.

Google maps have put me through the roads where nobody can think of in their wildest dreams. Once it took me to inside government primary school gate and I was confused what exactly it is doing until I realized the backside of school boundary wall is broken and villagers has turned into shortcut.

In Jodhpur, it took me to the hotel by ancient narrow passages where actually we have to knock 15-20 doors requesting them to remove their Bajaj Priyas and Chetak.

Recently, I was at some place and navigated Google to take me to Rewa (MP). Look at the picture to see the route Google taken to me



Recently did a trip to a place without using maps, spent tought time to find out the roads. Almost no mans land but it was super fun.

[INJAXN]

Like every other technological advancement has its positive and negative side, gps assisted driving too have its pros and cons. More pros than cons.

One such negative is that, we tend to rely on it too much, and without it we are lost. For e.g. I have traveled between Pune ( My place ) to Andheri, Mumbai ( sis in law's place ) at least 10 times, without missing a single turn or a flyover, with help of the G-maps. But I am so relied on GPS assisted driving that, I still do not know the way till her house completely. Without maps I will be doing circles in Mumbai. Am I ready for the Adventure, well it depends on how much time and energy I have to spare for the adventure.

Biggest positive and the obvious advantage of maps is that it allows you to drive to anyplace in the country, any part of the world. It has given us the confidence to just choose a location and start driving without having to worry about how to reach.

Has it killed the thrill completely, I guess not. Having GPS maps is like having a companion who knows the road to the destination, that's all.

[VWAllstar]

I think it sometimes kills the fun however sometimes doubles the fun. Quite a few times, Google has made me drive on wrong roads which took me to some interiors roads of Goa. I think Google does this purposely
Other times I contemplate how did our previous generations drive around without the maps? I remember being lost once driving from Mumbai to Goa in our Padmini. Took us nearly 18 hours and it is one of the memorable trip of my childhood.

[neerajsharma48]

I think GPS is a blessing, but one must remember some basics . Like, if you take a wrong turn, the GPS will automatically re-route by perhaps a much longer route. It is better to make your route using actual landmarks/ towns in sequence till you reach your destination. Common examples of these pitfalls are are like for example, if you are planning Delhi - Gandhinagar, there are at least ten different options. If you make the plan to a point on Jaipur bypass, add Ajmer Bypass and Rajsamand as intermediate destination till Gandhinagar, the desired route gets fixed without inadvertent re-routing on an entirely new route. Similar logic for roads without good road signs like in Ladakh, where you may use co-ordinates on the desired route as intermediate stops while making the plan.

In my opinion is that if you rely only and blindly on the GPS directions, over a period of time you tend to lose your innate sense of direction/ mental picture of the route. Another tip if one is interested, is to install a compass near the rear view mirror and keep glancing at it every now and then, esp. after turns on clover-leafs.

[yesyeswe]

I'm like dory from "finding nemo", can't remember routes at all, i even forget the routes on which i have travelled before, i can't travel at all without navigation . And because of that i learnt to use navigation quite early, i was using nokia maps in a nokia E72 in 2010 when i was in 11th standard. Google maps is a blessing to me.

[Laxman9192]

Voted 'Never'.
Being a novice at car driving I don't think I would have had the confidence to plan as many exciting and adventurous inter-state road trips that I have managed to go on without the aid and reliability of Google Maps. Heck, the very first stage in my planning process is to map out the distance and route in G-Maps and submit it for the due consideration of my mates (a very high maintenance group of individuals at that!).
In none of these trips did navigation impact the overall driving experience.

[airbus]

I have voted 'Never'.

In 2009 while driving from Bengaluru to Pondicherry we had a very basic google map app in my BlackBerry, so had printed maps to aid us but still had to struggle a bit to find out right directions. Now GPS map is a definite requirement for my long drives, although at times it may put drivers at some very adventurous routes owing to shorter distance/duration. In current pandemic situation GPS map also helps in reducing human interactions.

[Mile_Breaker]

Would have voted "Never" if voting was open.

My first use of GPS started in UK in 2006. I was able to adopt to its usage and instructions in my first ride without any issue. Through out my stay in UK it had helped me reach my destinations, find fuel stations, restaurants, like a good reliable friend. In India its a different story. Here google map had sometimes taken me through roads which had turned into adventures. Once while returning from a wedding invitation it instructed to leave the main road and take a bylane. It was middle of the night and that locality was infamous for bad incidents. After moving some distance into the bylane i turned around and came back to the main road and rest of the route ignored Google's instructions. Recently again in its zeal to always take one through the shortest route it overlooked that I am driving a 7 seater and led me straight into a narrow village road. I again turned into a bad boy and ignored all instructions of Google and returned back to main road. The option to select long route or short route , tolls or avoid tolls that one gets in GPS is what I miss in Google map. But apart from these occassionally unpredictable short cuts I believe GPS or Google map has opened up a lot of destinations for us. We now can drive out anywhere knowing Google is there to help if we get stuck.

[aghate]

Voted: Never

Don't want to sound too pedantic. But the correct term for a device based navigation is a 'SatNav' or 'Satellite Navigation'. A GPS is a Global Positioning System that gives current position/location information and doesn't perform any navigation actions.

I have been on many solo rides on my bike and have found the usage of 'Google Maps' and 'Sygic Map My India' very helpful. It is another story that I never used a mobile holder to regularly check the directions, I used to memorize the directions and lookout for road signs most of the times. The SatNav apps were only used as a back-up to look at in case I feel I am lost. Also, the phone vibrates when approaching a turn which helped in keeping me alert about taking the correct turn.

[IndieGooner]

Far from killing it, in smaller towns GPS sets you on adventures that you never wanted. Just couple of days back, I set my destination to a mall that I had never before visited. Google ended up taking me to the loading dock at the back gate of said mall!

Similarly on a early morning drive few years back, I ended up inside a narrow market lane where vendors were loading up their wares. People had to move stuff around to let me out for the lane was so narrow that there was no where to make a turn.

Both these instances happened while using Google maps. My car has built in navigation which I found to be pretty inaccurate and have used probably couple of times since I bought it 4 years back.

[RajeevSharma]

Voted Never.

It is impossible to even plan a journey without help from maps. It kills the fun if one does not stop for breaks because of maps or diskiles better speed that can be maintained as precise route is at hand.

Earlier this year, I had to cover less distance in more time as I had to reach Pali at 10 PM. I did enjoy all the scenery around me but the drive at 40 KMPH was very boring.

[Vibhav-Van]

Not really. The Google maps algorithm does have a sense of adventure sometimes, especially while suggesting alternative routes. This is the road it took me to, last month-



Maybe I wouldn't be scared to go through this in my Ecosport. But on that day, we were in the Figo, so I didn't dare go further.

Why can't Google ask the user to enter the type of their vehicle, or model and then suggest a route? I was often directed to lanes as wide as the width of my car. Imagine if I was in a larger car?

There are other common issues like flyovers and underpasses of course. In fact, I've always felt that Waze is a much better solution than Google maps.