GPS technology as we know it has been around for at least 30 years beginning with the launch of the first GPS satellite. Since then, it has gone from U.S. Government space toy to the “must have” for every driver. For the recent gift-giving season, I was generously given a Garmin nüvi^® 650 GPS personal travel assistant. I’ve never had a personal assistant of any kind before, so at first, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Would it take care of all my travel needs? Would it kindly ask the other drivers around me to move out of my way for travel? Would it remind me that the coffee in the foam cup is hot and to sip it responsibly while driving? Would it pack those extra clothes for the unexpected travel delays (i.e., spilled coffee)?

Garmin is one of the top industry leaders for GPS technology, founded on the principles of innovation, convenience, performance, value, and service. I felt comfortable knowing that good money was spent on a good quality unit. I had been looking at GPS units for my car for at least a year or so, and in all the options—TomTom, Magellan, Navigon… I found it amazing to see how many different applications some of these companies are cramming into, what is quickly becoming, a do-it-all kind of tool. My “personal travel assistant” has a pretty extensive list of built-in applications and options including:

• MP3 Player
• Audible^© Book Player
• Picture Viewer
• Calculator
• Oxford^© Language Guide (for purchase as add-on)
• Garmin Travel Guide (for purchase as add-on)
• Savers Guide (for purchase as add-on)
• World Clock
• Currency Converter
• Unit Converter

It also came with a suction cup mount, the vehicle power cable, a USB cable, a Dashboard disk, and information for registering your unit on the Garmin web page.

I’ve used my nüvi^® for a while since I received it. I have not opted to purchase the add-ons as noted, but overall, I like it very much. It is conveniently portable, such that it doesn’t need to be attached to my windshield to work, though I haven’t found any reason to use it outside my vehicle. For in-car navigation, I have found it to be most suitable in getting me to my intended destination. The pleasant British female voice (known as “Emily”) is most appealing, guiding me to “Turn left on Main Street,” or “Take exit 63 on the Right” in the proper Queen’s English. When I chose otherwise, she is quick to “recalculate” the route, and re-direct me back on track toward my destination for the shortest route or fastest route (not always the same thing—see below for more).

The added tools are useful in unique situations that one may find themselves in while traveling—the calculator could be used to figure out the tip for dinner, the world clock could easily tell you when it’s ok to call those close friends in Europe, the unit converter could be used to figure out the speed limit when driving through Canada, and the Audible^© Book Player allows you to go On the Road with Jack Kerouac reading to you if you choose, while on the road. I have not found a use for the picture viewer, though I’m sure with some creativity that will come in time, and I own another MP3 player so I don’ t expect to use my Garmin for that as much.

GPS has many other uses besides simple navigation to your favorite coffee shop or nearest gas station. At Fuss & O’Neill Technologies, we use GPS to capture the locations of various things—utility manholes, street signs, even the front door to your home—for mapping and analysis purposes. GPS is also used as a tracking tool to ensure a rapid response from the nearest service or emergency response vehicle; however, the nearest vehicle with the shortest travel distance may not always be the best choice.

This brings up the difference between “shorter” and “faster.” The Garmin nüvi^® can be set for “Faster Time” or “Shorter Distance.” While the shorter distance may be more efficient in mileage, it may be longer in travel time due to traffic lights, city street speed limits, and city traffic congestion. The faster time will probably require highway driving but will move you at a faster speed, will avoid traffic lights, and will take you a few more miles “out of the way.” Both will get you to your intended destination, but one will be a little more scenic than the other.

I enjoy driving with “Emily” in the car as I answer the question, “whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” I have faith that she will guide me safely home from anywhere I happen to be, even when I decide to veer from the designated path.

Thad

When I meet someone for the first time, and they ask me what I do for a living, I often pause before I answer. I’m usually pretty sure they are unfamiliar with what G.I.S. is or what it is used for. For clarity purposes, G.I.S. is an acronym for Geographic Information System or Science—depending on the situation. In simple terms, it is the combination of an atlas and an encyclopedia. Instead of going into a long dissertation on the ins and outs of G.I.S. and how it works, I usually ask if they use Google maps or if they have a GPS device in their car. They are the most obvious and most widely visible G.I.S. products, but there are so many things that we see and use every day that exist or occur because of G.I.S.

From the time you wake up in the morning through the long night when you are asleep, somewhere, there is a G.I.S. or a G.I.S. product at work. There is also probably someone, such as myself, creating the graphics and feeding in the data behind those graphics into a database that works in the G.I.S. As you wake up in the morning and watch TV or listen to your radio, the commercials you see and hear are products of a G.I.S. At some point in the process demographics were fed into a computer and a map was created showing the best market for a given product or service based on specific criteria that would be ideal for advertising and selling.

You get into your car to drive to work on streets that were planned out using a G.I.S. to map their placement and layout for highest efficiency and safety. Their maintenance—paving, repairing, snow plowing and sanding—are all monitored and scheduled using a G.I.S. As you pull up to the ATM, you may not realize that it was placed there based on findings from a G.I.S. business analysis. The same goes for the gas station, donut shop, and home improvement store that you pass by. The property taxes on the houses you pass, as well as the one you live in, are linked to the G.I.S. by your municipal tax assessor. The underground water pipes and manholes that you drive over are all recorded in the G.I.S. The roads and directions that show on the in-car navigation system or GPS device you may have were all created using G.I.S. software. The traffic lights on the street are cued to change based on information from a G.I.S. about travel speeds, street length, and the amount of traffic over a period of time. The cell phone you may use to tell your employer that you are running late this morning connects to a cell tower that was placed where it was based on a G.I.S. view-shed analysis.

The G.I.S. Iceberg

When you fly on a plane, the route it takes is based on a map of air traffic patterns created by a G.I.S. If you used any of the internet travel sites to book your trip, the hotel chosen by the web page to be closest to where you wanted to be was found based on G.I.S. information.  The weather map or report that you watch on the news or weather station was created or assisted from data in a G.I.S. This is all just the tip of the G.I.S. iceberg!

G.I.S. is an incredibly versatile tool. It is used in so many different professions and places. Everything from marketing and product distribution, to fire, police, and the post office. I’ve even known some people to use G.I.S. for furniture placement design and picture arrangement on a wall. The products of G.I.S. are used in things we see and use everyday in our homes and around where we live. 

The Fuss & O’Neill Technologies GIS technicians and analysts produce a wide variety of products and services for many different types of clients and projects. They range from simple maps, to analysis reports, charts, graphs, databases, virtual 3-D images, and much, much more!

By now I’m sure you have a good idea of how big a part G.I.S. plays in our every day lives. It helps us answer questions like, “where is the nearest coffee shop?” or “how many miles til the next gas station?” or “how do I get to my friend’s new house?” When you get these answers, think thank G.I.S.

Thad