“Until there’s a reason not to trust the G.P.S., I’m trusting the G.P.S.”
From New Yorker issue Jan 5, 2015
Well, the new year is officially here, and 2014 seems like it passed by in a blink. There were a lot of things that happened in the world of GPS this year other than the obvious introduction of several new sport tracking units and automotive units, which I am not going to list out.
In fact, I think this year was a pretty exciting one, filled with lots of debates involving GPS and privacy, drone use and its legality (with an undercurrent of the FAA panicking), self-driving cars and indoor location technologies—all things that really helped push GPS and its many uses to the front of public awareness, especially where privacy is concerned.
2014 also saw the successful launch of several updated satellites to improve accuracy in pretty much all of the different navigational satellite systems and, of course, the Galileo debacle that stranded two satellites due to an error. They have since re-adjusted one satellite to a more usable orbit, while scientists scratch their heads about what to do with the second.
Smartwatches entered the scene this year, but weren’t nearly as smart as we all hoped. And while they did get GPS capability (finally), GPS watches are still far superior for pretty much everything (except, probably, checking your email). Of course, that hasn’t stopped doomsayers from predicting that the end of dedicated GPS devices is nigh—just like they did last year. But, just just like last year, I don’t think that it’s likely to be soon.
Anyway, I just wanted to wish everyone a great New Year, and I hope that you’ll stick around as we review more GPS units and cover interesting GPS news in 2015!
Great post and Happy New Year to you Liz! I look forward to following your site in the coming year. Thanks for all the hard work.