Another brilliant idea
 

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/2375812...autical-charts

Great idea, until the GPS dies and you need to manually navigate.:Kaleun_Sick:

..so private shops do it better?:hmmm: You may want to tell your boss that about healthcare.

Hard to use your GPS when Dr. No takes out a satellite or two. :yep:

1 million dollars.

Someone had a visit from the Good Idea Fairy.

Reminds me of the time the GPS went down on my fathers boat but luckily we were in sight of the harbour...funny how you become dependant on technology.

GPS
:hmmm:
Get Prepared to Speed!
Houston,Texas 2008!
:har:

I know that there are teachers advocating that handwriting should be skipped from school lessons, since everybody is typing on a keyboard. Some even are insane enough not wanting to teach maths anymore, but the handling of an electronic calculator only. :dead:

GPS and computer assistances are all nice and well, for everyday duties an routines, I'm all for it. But you should nevertheless fulfill two conditions, always:

You should be qualified to use the manual procedure, the analogue mechanical device nevertheless, you should have learned it as the fundament on which digital/electronic modern toys base on, and you should be able to use it in case of emergency.

You should have analogue/non-electronic backups. Stored deep in a box, maybe, but it should be there in case you depend on needing to find it.

If needing to plan for an expedition and in isolated grounds, if needed to chose, I would always prefer map, compass and sextant over a tablet with GPS or something like that. ALWAYS. I learned all about compass navigation just for curiosity, and later I really could made good use of it, in North Africa especially. For pure curiosity, and although I never needed it, I learned how to use a sextant. If an empty nut like me could learn that for curiosity, then everybody can. Not to mention handwriting and head-calculating basic maths.

I would not dare to join a yacht heading for the blue ocean that only has the latest GPS and computers with three levels of redundancy aboard, but no printed maps, magnetic compass and sextant. I could win a free world journey with it, and still would refuse to accept it.

"Daddy? What's this big musty book with all the funny colored shapes on the pages?"

"Why it's called an Atlas, pumpkin."

"What's an Atlas, Daddy?

"Google it kid. I'm busy."

Does the military still teach map reading (orienteering)? Or is everything GPS?

I'm still old school. I use real maps printed on paper.
When Bubble and Yubba's dreams come true?
I'll still be able to get where I want to go.

GPS? I don't need no stinking GPS!

The Navy still teaches cadets navigation with a sextant. But it's one of those things like sails on a training ship. Probably just hanging on for tradition's sake.

Even on the fire dept, when we switched to GPS for directions, we still kept the maps. The GPS was down often enough that we still relied heavily on the maps.

My wife loves GPS and map directions. Last week in the mountains trying to visit some of her mountain folk, we were on back dirt state roads. I told her we're lost, but she said her GPS was fine. Then we lost the signal....I was like
"what now hon" I do as I usually do, turn on the radio and tell her to let me know when to turn. Only when she admits she's wrong and lost do I take over...

Never used a GPS myself, just pull out a map if I have one, or hope that the Department of Transport put out a good number of road signs!

Lets see if I have this right.
No savings will be made in the mapping process.
Printing and selling the maps does not operate at a loss.
Surely if the "good idea fairy" was at work they would just add $5 to the retail price of the maps and turn a profit on the production side.:hmmm:

You'll probably find the smart retailers were already doubt that.