Since the advent of navigators in every smartphone, it has become much easier to travel and just look for a shortcut to home or any other part of the city. On the one hand, this is an unambiguous benefit, but this phenomenon also has disadvantages. I travel a lot by car and just walk. In recent years, I see them more and more clearly. All this made me very much reconsider my attitude towards navigators and special applications. If you are of the same opinion with me, then you will find my reasoning as logical as possible, and if not, we will have something to argue about in the comments. Anyway, let's chat and share our opinion. I'm ready to start.
Now you hardly find such a navigator in my car.
I have already talked about why it is better not to use the navigator in your smartphone on a long journey or just on a daily basis. Many then agreed with me, although there were those who argued with my opinion. The controversy was a bit odd as my position was backed up by clear technical arguments. In any case, I then said that using a navigator can break a smartphone, but this, as they say, is at your own peril and risk. Now I want to tell you why, even leaving this point out, I don't want to use the navigator often.
Why is it better not to use the navigator
Before, when I was driving somewhere far away, I always took a car navigator with me. Tom Tom was my first navigator. I don’t remember the exact model, but I really liked it and worked well in Europe. The only problem was the comfortable but sparse mounts. When I forgot it in the rental car, I had to run around looking for it and pay several thousand rubles for it.
Something like this TomTom I had before.
Then for Russia I got an inexpensive navigator with Navitel maps. It took a long time to run, but it worked quickly. With him, I traveled around most of Russia, the CIS and the Baltic States, and then switched to maps in my smartphone. Most often I used offline Google maps or MapsMe, which I started using even before they learned how to build car routes.
After a while, I realized that I didn't like this approach, and now I always have the same Navitel in my car, just in case. There are three main reasons for this.
I have already cited the first one in the article I mentioned above. The smartphone just gets damaged when using the navigator. Any screen tends to burn out, especially OLED. When the smartphone heats up under load, it further “strains” the matrix. And the battery just depletes its resource, which is also not very pleasant.
The second problem is something that I ran into a couple of times at the wrong time. I got a call when I was driving through a difficult place with a lot of turns. I shouldn't have missed the exit, but the phone got a call and I was leaving the wrong place. At that moment, I had iPhone hanging on the tidy, the call is displayed on the whole screen, and this really became a problem.
The navigator in the smartphone helps out when there is nothing else at hand, but it is better to take a special solution on the road.
Finally, the third point is the strong heating of the smartphone. When the backlight is set to maximum, the processor, GPS is working, and charging is also in progress, the smartphone heats up very much. When it happens in the summer and cold air from the air conditioner is blowing from the ventilation system, the problem is partially solved and the smartphone is cooled down. In winter, on the contrary, it is aggravated when warm air from the stove enters the body. As a result, the smartphone heats up a lot, it can freeze, and just putting it in your pocket is no longer so pleasant, since sometimes it literally gets hot.
I remember how one day I overheated my smartphone so much that it literally hurt to touch it. True, then I was carrying him in a bag on the tank of a motorcycle. There is a special transparent insert. It was sunny outside, so the backlight was at maximum, the air did not cool it (the pocket is tight and sealed), and the sun, on the contrary, warmed the black bag. The situation was aggravated by the fact that PowerBank was connected to the device. So the battery is not too swollen. I didn't do that again.
All this has led to the fact that I use the navigator in my smartphone only as a last resort. Of course, the maps there are not bad, especially in comparison with standard car navigators. For example, I have maps from the same Tom Tom, which is not very good in Russia, but I still prefer to use it or the usual navigator, which is always lying around in the glove compartment. CarPlay and Android Auto decide, but I don't like extra wires in the cabin. It's a matter of taste.
Say what you don’t say, but it’s best to travel across Russia using Yandex cards. Although, Google works better abroad.
I only use my smartphone to quickly leave an unfamiliar area. As soon as the moment comes that I know the way further, I knock it out of my memory and drive on my own.
As a result, we figured out why it is better not to use a smartphone as a navigator for long distances and it is easier to buy a separate device for about 3,000 rubles. But there is another reason why it is better not to use navigators. It has nothing to do with technology. She has rather human roots.
How to remember the road
You can often come across statements from people that they cannot get home without a navigator. It looks a little odd considering that they have been driving this route for years. Of course, most likely, they mean traffic jams that go around using the same Yandex.
In fact, as practice shows, navigators with traffic jams do not always help to really choose the right route. They only help in those cases when there is a serious accident on the road and usually it is free, but now it is almost completely blocked. In other cases, it is more self-hypnosis, because as soon as the navigator shows a free road, everyone immediately goes there and it ceases to be free.
The navigator is good, but you need to be able to move around without it, and use it as an assistant, not a guide. There are, of course, exceptions.
In addition, the constant use of navigators causes the memory to become immune to memorizing the road. You are leaving somewhere and do not know how to get back. It's a personal choice for everyone, but I like to ride from memory more. This way I am free from a dead battery, poor network reception and many other factors.
And when walking, especially on vacation, I can also enjoy the city. Of course, to find a specific house, you can look at the map, but constantly looking at the navigator is also wrong.
I used to do this, but then I stopped, and the ability to look at the map once, remember the route and adhere to the correct direction for twenty minutes developed by itself. Moreover, it is fast enough.
Now I can even drive 700-1000 km once and repeat this route a second time without any electronic assistance. Of course, I'm far from London taxi drivers, but it's a great pleasure.
Maybe with such statements I look like an old believer from the forest, but being free from addiction and understanding the road yourself is very pleasant. Isn't this freedom when you can move where you need to and almost not use outside help. At the same time, I completely agree that navigators are a blessing, you just don't need to abuse them. Well, everyone will make the choice between a smartphone and a separate device for themselves. Write in the comments how you use the navigator. Whether you prefer separate devices for a long journey, or get by with a smartphone. The opinions of our readers are very interesting.