[macvoiceover] Re: Navigon
- From: Chris Hofstader <cdh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:28:00 -0400
Hi,
Thanks for the excellent note and the terrific information in it. As
you may or may not know, I have spent a whole lot of time testing
various GPS solutions (you can go to my blog: www.blindconfidential.blogspot.com
and search for a number of items I have written on the subject). I
was also still VP of software engineering at Freedom Scientific when
we made the first version of StreatTalk (a very poor solution that I
am told is really good now but as I haven't a PAC Mate with me, I
can't give it a personal whirl).
The biggest of my complaints from yesterday, that it told me to turn
in exactly the opposite direction than I knew was correct, turned out
to be user error. First off, I had it set to automobile as I thought
that, like most iPhone applications, settings were "sticky." Second,
I had managed to get myself entirely turned around and, in fact, I was
facing the "wrong" direction and the Navigon software was trying to
correct me. I retraced the route after I posted my message yesterday
and all was pretty good. Now I understand why my dog was acting so
oddly on our route.
The disappearing button issue may be a design flaw but it feels more
like a bug to me. I just reproduced it thusly: From the Main menu
select "favorites," in my case select "YWCA" (it's my only favorite,
you then find yourself in an address page with buttons "Favorites,"
"Start Navigation" and "More..." - none of which get me back to the
Main Menu. Under "More..." I can set my profile and under that set
speed to pedestrian. When I get back to the address page, though, I
still have no way back to the Main Menu that I can find.
I'm assuming that there is no way to edit a map? I'd like to add a
POI into the middle of a route so the map will bring me through
Harvard Yard rather than on the streets around it. So, if I could add
the statue of John Harvard and the fountain at the Harvard Science
Center I might be able to go "off road" if such is possible. These
features are in Mobile Geo and the Nuance thing (I don't know
Wayfinder/Access very well). If I need to stick to roads I can fudge
a few things in a map I can, if it behaves like most GPS/Nav
solutions, edit to force it to bring me to certain places in a
particular order by kind of confusing it.
Ok, I understand that pedestrian mode doesn't effect the map but only
the expected speed of motion. I haven't tried entering an address out
by my mother-in-law's house (20 miles west of here or so) an
automobile map would include the Massachusetts Turnpike as it is the
most efficient way of getting from Cambridge to Natick. If I really
felt like a hike, though, I would need directions that included only
secondary roads as pedestrians (for good reason) aren't allowed on the
Pike. Is Is it possible to force Navigon into a route calculation
that does not include serious highways?
Now that I know it bit better, I like it a whole lot more than
yesterday when I was sure I was going to ask for my $70 back. I
really wish it had an editable text list so I can understand in
advance the gestalt of my journey and I would put near the top of my
feature wish list a true pedestrian mode that ignores the direction of
one way streets and lets me set "breadcrumbs" while on a trip that it
will include in a future route to the same place in a mucho efficient
way (cutting through university quads and the like).
Overall, though, I'm very impressed with the accuracy of Navigon as it
does a great job of understanding intersections and where I may be
standing even if I am still).
I'll be playing with it some more today and will report findings.
I'll also be looking for a users' manual to see if I'm doing anything
especially boneheaded (often the state of my intellect when my
caffeine milligram per hour ratio is dangerously low).
Enjoy,
cdh
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