Cruising the blogs and forums this morning my mind has turned to electronic navigation. Anyone who knows me will tell you of my antithesis to unnecessary electronic gadgetry. My last three phones have been tinterweb capable and I've never felt the need. I now own a smart phone thanks to a free upgrade and all the other options offering worse spec's on the items I use(Phone, text, camera). If I ever use 20% of it's functions I'll be amazed. However I was a little surprised by the tone of discussion on the usually sedate CTC message boards
You cannot use a smart phone on a bike you need two hands. It's electronic, not waterproof and unwanted handlebar clutter. To roll out a favourite old saw "Electronics: Inherently unreliable and prone to failure." Let's face it as useful as they are, smartphones are not designed for the outdoors. The screen is always unviewable through glare and in use they have the battery life of a hamster.
Garmin type nav systems have their uses if you are doing a fixed route for training and the like. For touring? In my mind, no. They show you so little of your surroundings so you rely on the programming skills of somebody in a darkened room in Silicone Valley. There is no flexibility for the, "What's down here?" turn. Without stopping, fagging about with a pointer by which time you've lost the urge and go back to being told where to go. You also need to keep charging the damn thing. Use it constantly in navigation mode and it will be flat before your days ride is finished.
You can charge on the go from a hub dynamo with a Busch and Muller e-werk or the Tout Terrain Plug. Apple products appear to need a very smooth power supply so a buffer battery has been supplied for the e-werk so you charge the battery and it supplies a smooth charge for your i-phone.
Smart phones are not ruggadised in any way, so rain or a sweaty shirt pocket isn't going to do them any good and in the unfortunate situation of dropping the bike they're toast. The navigator/heart rate monitor types are waterproof and I presume ruggadised to some extent.
My core reason for disliking them is their sheer ruination of social interaction. Instead of engaging their brains people are poking around their electronic comfort blanket. A generation of people who can't navigate are on the way. You see them now, people on the school run/work commute clattering down tiny lanes because the journey is 0.75km shorter and will save them 30 seconds if they average 50mph. The fact that they will be stuck behind the tractor/combine/cyclist or squeezing past their fellows coming the other way and take longer and use more fuel than going on the main drag is beyond them.
GPS is a very useful tool, if I seriously walked or climbed I would not leave home without one. Lost in poor visibility with no navigation points they are a Godsend. Bolted to my handlebars I cant see the point. Off road, probably, but will they survive the toil? A map asks questions of you, tempts you down the road less travelled and most of all gives you an overview. Sans battery, sans pointer, sans app. People talk to you if you have a map. "Are you OK?" "Lost?" "Come far?" No one speaks to you when you're prodding about a hand held electronic device. Sat in the cafe/pub/bus shelter your journey and so much more is spread out in front of you on a map.
Now the burning question is, tomorrow morning? Duvet morning? Gentle ride out to breakfast or up early and go out with Farcycles? Ah decisions. Have a good weekend
