I have often espoused that the real value of GPS is not its ability
to provide a route to a destination but the fact that it allows you
to "get unlost." This means that you can comfortably become lost
because you have the tool to find your way back.
I am reminded of this tremendous benefit when I am in a completely
unfamiliar situation and wish to explore. To make the challenge
even greater, put yourself in another country where a different
language is spoken.
I am in Barcelona Spain, staying in a hotel on a major avenue
called La Rambla. It is fun to stroll up and down but if you want
to find local food for reasonable prices, you need to explore away
from La Rambla. It only takes a few blocks before you leave the
wide streets and find yourself in narrow alleys. It feels like some
sort of Halloween Maize as you meander further and further into the
heart of the old city.
Thank goodness the new high sensitivity GPS receivers pick up
signals in these narrow places. You do have to pay attention to the
data to make sure the little streets, which are close to each
other, don't get misreported. By double checking the announcement
of the street you are on constantly, you can figure this out.
It is amazing that these very small restaurants, shops and bars are
in the GPS database. The system reports them to you as you go along
including which side of the street they are on. Be ready to duck
into a doorway if a car comes along. There isn't much clearance on
some of these streets.
Besides using my GPS information on my search for a lunch place, I
was sniffing and listening, occasionally ducking into a door only
to decide it didn't sound right, didn't have a good feel.
Wonderfully, smoking laws in Spain have gotten much stricter so you
don't have to worry about that as much as you did a few years ago.
I heard a couple of British ladies mentioning that they were
looking for a certain restaurant and I offered to help them out. I
got them to the correct street and we found their restaurant. It
was too loud for me so I kept exploring and picked one called Quo
Vadis. It is that last 20 to 50 feet to the destination that is
difficult. I knew I was close and I even knew which side of the
street the restaurant was on. I asked for sighted assistance to
find the actual door. They didn't see it at first but when I
insisted that it was close by, they kept looking and finally found it.
The waiter was pretty blown away when I used the KNFB Reader to
read the menu. I was trying to get him to read it to me but he kept
asking what I wanted and he was too busy to take the time to read
me the choices. There was an English and a Spanish section of the
menu. If there had been a WiFi connection, I could have used the
KNFB Reader's ability to translate but there wasn't and I was
afraid of the possible cost of using the Internet through my phone
provider.
When I was finished with a leisurely lunch, I set my hotel as my
destination and followed the pedestrian route created on my GPS to
take me back, quite easy. This was a far cry from the first time I
came to Barcelona in the 80s.
The cool thing is that you don't have to be a super traveler to
enjoy this kind of independence. It is the combination of tools,
which makes this all come together.
Now I just have to wait for the late Spanish dinner hour tonight to
go out again for another adventure before heading home tomorrow.
Mike
Michael G. May
CEO Sendero Group
"The GPS company:" Featuring Sendero GPS on the BrailleNote as well
as Sense Nav and the new Mobile Geo for Windows Mobile devices.
Also distributing Trekker, Victor Stream, KNFB Mobile Reader,
Talks, Mobile Speak, Tiger embossers, Miniguide and ID Mate
Crashing Through, a book about Mike May, by Robert Kurson,
available at http://www.CrashingThrough.com
MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.SenderoGroup.com
1-888-757-6810, Fax (530) 757-6830, Mobile (530) 304-0007
Sendero Group, LLC
429 F Street, Davis, CA 95616, USA
