auto insurance

We must note in fairness that bundles of neurons are as capable of poor judgment as are bundles of circuitry. Our paper-map team had for much of the day flaunted its ability to arrive at each destination before everyone else. But on the last leg, realizing that most of the computers would try to route teams as quickly as possible to I-69, the map team tried a shortcut. No amount of speeding later in the leg could make up for the time it spent in a long, snaking traffic jam, following one of those lesser roads that only looks good on a map.
We should note that each and every team made it to each and every destination. auto insurance Eventually. At this point in their development, satellite navigation systems are as often frustrating as they are accurate, but the basic technology works and they look to be here to stay. They are, as a group, curiosities that look nifty to the uninitiated but are akin to the home computer in the days of the Commodore 64. The sorts of people who can make them work are just as geeky as those who ran Commodores, and they invest a similar inordinate amount of time using a machine that is not a tool, but a hobby.
Just as it has on the desktop, this will change in the car. As the driver/computer interface becomes more intuitive, so too will the willingness to use it increase. More computer memory will allow for more detailed mapping, which, in turn, allows for more routing options. auto insurance Eventually, these systems will be able to receive and assimilate information that drivers can't and shouldn't attempt while operating a car, such as real-time traffic updates and the ability to bypass problem areas. More computing power and more sophisticated software might eventually allow navigation systems to follow the illogical human minds that would assign four different names to the same road in as many miles. Satellite navigation is an inexact science, but a science nonetheless.
This science doesn't come cheap, though. The average nav system price in our test was $1,927. That average doesn't include the Jag system that comes bundled with a cell phone and voice-activated controls for $4,300. auto insurance The Mercedes system is standard. It is standard on a car that costs nearly $70,000.
If it is worth the novelty of having a navigation system, then you might not mind financing the development of the technology with your $2,000 to $4,000.
Reading a map is also a science of sorts. A map costs $3.95, so you could have 500 maps on board before you caught up to the price of one electronic navigation system. There was no point on our journey when any team was less lost than it would have been had the people just shut off the navigation system and picked up the emergency map.
What we proved is that the Acura system was the easiest to use-it was only twice as hard to use as a map, whereas some of the others were simply torture devices for the techno-timid. auto insurance The best system is still only as reliable as the map data contained therein. All the systems failed, for instance, to locate the St. Clair Inn precisely. They got us close, but all were confused by the proximity and frequent intersection of two roads named, respectively, River and Riverside.
So, maps upon maps, or a navigation system? The questions are: Whom do you trust, how quickly do you need to get there, how much money can you spend? Once you've answered those, ask yourself this one: Do you have a sense of humor? If so, perhaps you can share your car with a navigation system.

Related Links: