Sat Nav Nightmares

A thought struck me last night as I was being driven home by a pleasant, yet slightly odorous, taxi driver. I should hasten to add that there were many thoughts whizzing through my mind at the time; why is Red Leicester cheese labelled ‘Red’ when it’s clearly a dark orange, who invented the cable car, will I ever be able to afford a white Toyota Prius, did Ban Ki-Moon change his name because it sounds cool, who’s the TT in The Bridge, is Richard Hammond a real person? But one thought lodged in my head and stayed there long enough for me to consider writing something about it. And it is this: Will technology render humans useless? As in, will the ever varying ways in which technology helps humanity eventually lead people to being unable to think independently?

The sat-nav is a perfect example. Key in your destination and a cold, empty voice directs you, to the minutest detail, on how to reach your desired place, draining any excitement about the trip in the process. “The voice doesn’t sound too enthralled to be going to Pembrokeshire, maybe we shouldn’t go. Maybe we should go back because she sounds tired, even a little cantankerous.” Take a wrong turn or decide to veer from the suggested route and the person in the screen gets angry, in part due to you taking matters into your own hands and in part not having the programmed vocabulary to say “turn around and go the way I tell you.”

The sat-nav - such a nagging abbreviation - removes any chance of stumbling, quite at random, on a seemingly unspoilt, remote hideaway. (Unless you end up on the edge of a cliff - wrong turn - , something which only goes to prove people’s over reliance on technology and lack of trust in themselves). It removes the possibility of spontaneity. “That road looks interesting, let’s see where it goes.” Most of the time you’ll end up at a dead end or in a Royston Vasey type village, where locals greet you with accusing glances and up-turned noses, but there’s fun in it.

What was so bad about an A to Z anyway? They worked. They were relatively simple. You may have needed to sit down and concentrate on planning a route for a short while, but is that such a bad thing? Do we really need something to tell us where to go at every turn in the road? The problem is that everyone’s become too impatient, too time conscious and too busy to think for themselves on matters of such simplicity. We’re living in a world where the internet, i-phones and sat-navs can give you information and answers at the click of a button – why would you want to waste time looking at a map?

But we should – just because we can get information quickly doesn’t mean we should all act quickly, barely stopping to catch our breath.

Back in the taxi and we were stuck in traffic, less than a mile from my flat. “If I turn right here will I be able to get to yours?” enquired the taxi driver. “I don’t know. Maybe.” We both looked at the sat-nav, then glanced at each other, and waited in the traffic.