InformationWeek Reviews State of GPS
Recently InformationWeek released an interesting article that takes a look at the current state of GPS and the numerous strides it has taken in the past few years. He talks about the first articles were they covered GPS back in 2002 when a couple of megabytes for storing maps was large, black and white screens were the norm, and when you could figure out who to connect the GPS receiver to your computer it was via a serial connection.
As of this writing, the Lowrance 11248 may be the best value in basic GPS technology; it sells for around $65; that’s about 30% less than last year’s lowest-priced basic unit. Although the Lowrance 11248 can’t automatically plot turn-by-turn directions for you, it will show you where you are and what’s nearby with an accuracy roughly equal to that of the Garmin GPS V, which cost $500, or over seven times as much, just three years ago. The Lowrance unit is an incredible piece of technology at an amazingly low price. At the other end of the spectrum, there are units like the StreetPilot 2720, which can integrate GPS data with local, real-time traffic and weather conditions broadcast over the FM Radio Data System’s “Traffic Message Channel.
