This article presents the results
of a study conducted to find the true source of GPS failures. When we miss turns, select incorrect lanes,
and beg the darn contraption to recalculate, does the fault reside with the
technology or with the self-proclaimed techies who abuse it? According to research performed by a
professor-student team, the blame can be
assigned to the flawed human users.
Apparently, human error explains many of the directional difficulties
experienced by the subjects of the study.
Whether the surveyed drivers were programming incorrect destinations
into the GPS or gazing at the screen for 200 milliseconds too long, they were
the primary causes of their geographic distress.
The study also revealed that
voice-only instructions are more effective because they eliminate the
disruption of a colorful and diverting screen.
However, drivers responded to this revelation with the unrelenting
assertion that they “felt anxious without [a screen].”
My thoughts? When did paper maps lose all credibility? (You will swiftly find that I am hardly
technology’s most earnest enthusiast.)
Anti-technology sentiments aside, however, I find it troubling that,
when confronted with research that confirms the distraction of a GPS screen, drivers
childishly maintain that they require one.
Why does a screen sooth us? Does the four inch LCD perched on our
dashboards remind us that we are not without resources? That we are not alone? Are we that
dependent on technology? Though I
admit to using (and even relying upon) a GPS, I would be willing to adopt
voice-only instructions, especially if assured that they are safer and more
effective.
But this query is an interesting
one. Do we regard screenless technology
with the same reverence as those devices that boast a vivid display? Hardly.
Somehow, “no screen” has come to mean
“no fun.”
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