SUCH - Tarheel Chapter BMW Car Club of America

Clearly, the basic concept of an on-board
navigation system is here to stay, and for good
reason. Heck, it’s really a no-brainer. Just about
anyone who travels by car, for business or pleasure,
is bound to appreciate being able to get
from A to B in the most effi cient manner (without
getting lost in the process).
However, the way major carmakers choose to
offer this feature nowadays virtually guarantees
that you can’t have an integrated on-board system
without spending really big bucks.
As Bill Howard suggests in his recent column
(June ROUNDEL), many carmakers seem to be
stuck in a mindset that leaves them unable (or
unwilling) to offer decent built-in navigation for
less than $1,000. As he sees it, these carmakers
“can’t do navigation for less than $1,000 [because]
they have no intention of giving you navigation”
unless it’s fully integrated with the multifarious
systems already in the cars.
In other words, the Automotive Establishment’s
view is that there ain’t no such thing as
an on-board GPS unit with all the right features
– moving maps, voice prompts – that’s NOT tied
into a car’s audio system, or touch-screen, or
climate controls, or whatever. There’s more to
Bill’s story (good stuff, too). But for me, what fi rst
struck me was – this is a classic case of planned
obsolescence. There’s no way of replacing a nav
system with a new, improved model except by
turning in the car for a newer model!
There is, of course, a cheaper yet satisfactory
alternative: Forget about what carmakers
want to sell you and create your own in-car nav
system. It’s therefore not surprising that the af-
PAUL HOECKE Notes from the road
The Trouble With GPS
termarket business is alive and well. The wide
selection of GPS units in electronics stores, at
prices ranging between $200 and $400, is impressive.
And judging by all the vehicles that sport
them on their dashboards or suction-cupped to
their windshields, there seems to be no end to
the demand either. The competition may even stir
those carmakers out of their rut, although (as Bill
suggests) it may very well be Ford and Hyundai,
rather than BMW, leading the way to an AFFORD-
ABLE yet effective on-board GPS system.
Be that as it may, I wish everyone concerned
the best of luck. But trust me to come up with yet
another alternative to this whole navigation issue:
Don’t bother getting one. I suspect I’m in the
minority on this, but I have my reasons.
By now, you know me to be somewhat conservative
when it comes to cars. I’m not one to
rush out and get the latest accessory just because
it’s available. The car industry is full of blind alleys.
(Anybody still remember push-button transmissions?)
More important, I also like to keep
things simple. Now, I’ll admit that, wandering
past the display of Magellans and Garmins at the
local Best Buys, I’ve been occasionally tempted
to get one of these little plug-in gizmos. The technology
is pretty neat – being told by a satellite in
orbit where on the globe I happen to be located is
sort of inspiring. (I’ve been something of a space
nut from the Wernher von Braun days.) But every
time I’ve come close to buying one, my mind
comes up with this pop-up menu of reasons why I
don’t really need to.
For one thing, I’m sort of wedded to maps –
paper maps, that is. They’re REALLY cheap; and
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