Nope. This is not WHS. This is not MC. Not even a computer story. Let’s file it under electronic gadgetry. Regardless, I had to at least make a mention here.
How many of you use GPS devices? This story, courtesy of Engadget by way of USA Today, points out several topics for discussion.
First, the “short” story. A couple driving home from Oregon to Nevada gets stuck in the boonies of Oregon for 3 days courtesy of their GPS device. Reading the 2 stories gives us two completely different slants on the events.
The USA Today story:
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — A Nevada couple letting their SUV’s navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.On Sunday, atmospheric conditions apparently changed enough for their GPS-enabled cellphone to get a weak signal and relay coordinates to a dispatcher, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said.
“GPS almost did ‘em in and GPS saved ‘em,” Evinger said. “It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route.”
Evinger said a Lake County deputy found the couple in the Winema-Fremont National Forest outside the small town of Silver Lake on Sunday afternoon and pulled their four-wheel-drive Toyota Sequoia out of the snow with a winch.
John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, made it home safely to Reno, Evinger said.
The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said.
“Their statement was, being prepared saved their life,” he said.
The couple had been in Portland and followed their GPS as it directed them south on U.S. Highway 97 to Oregon Highway 31, which goes through Silver Lake and Lakeview before connecting with U.S. Highway 395 to Reno, Evinger said.
In the town of Silver Lake, the unit told them to turn right on Forest Service Road 28, and they followed that and some spur roads nearly 35 miles before getting stuck in about 1 1/2 feet of snow near Thompson Reservoir, the sheriff said.
“For some reason they finally got a weak signal after 2 1/2 days,” Evinger said. “They called in. They alternated between two different cellphone numbers.”
A GPS-enabled phone is able to send its coordinates to 911, and eventually one of the couple’s phones sent its location to the dispatcher’s console, the sheriff said.
Then we have the Engadget version:
So you’re cruising along, in your GPS-equipped SUV, taking your dear wife back home to Reno. The trusty onscreen guide instructs you to “turn right” and you follow its typically reliable instructions. At what point in the next three days of plowing deeper and deeper into snow-covered Oregon do you start suspecting that maybe something is amiss? Alright, so this isn’t quite on par with others driving buses into low-clearance tunnels, dipping their cars into rivers, or jamming heavy load trucks into unsuitably tight farm lanes. But we don’t discriminate here, all instances of idiotic GPS dependency deserve their moment in the sun, so here’s to Mr. John Rhoads and his tastefully named wife, Mrs. Starry Bush-Rhoads, who are now safe and sound after their phone pinged out its coordinates to emergency services when it began losing signal.
What do I ascertain from all this?
- See the title of this article. Have we become so dependent upon our gadgetry, that we fail to let common sense raise a warning sign?
- It is interesting to see the difference between a sensationalistic story (Engadget) and a “Just the facts” story (USA Today). BTW, how do you like the title of my article???!!!
- Somewhat similar to #1, but it may be that the miniaturation of electronic devices has gotten us to the point where we truly can’t see the forest for the trees. As in, we can barely see the tree, let alone the forest. There really is not a good electronic substitute for a real PAPER map!
What do you-all think?
