GPS is Worth the Money
Here’s an interesting piece I just read which is a lot more profound than many will give it credit for:
I bought a new GPS receiver over the holidays that’s designed for use in a vehicle, a boat, a bicycle or even hiking. So far, I’m quite impressed.
While driving to my in-laws’ home in Kentucky over the holidays, I was able to monitor what restaurants and gas stations were nearby each time we needed to stop for food or fuel.
My in-laws live on a two-lane road in the rural community in the eastern Kentucky mountains, but the GPS was able to provide turn-by-turn directions from my driveway to their’s. I knew the way, but thought it would be a good test of the GPS’ navigation abilities and it worked like a charm.
It also was able to to guide me along the back roads and trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
I can hardly wait to try it out in my boat. …
While I’m amazed with the information available to GPS users, I wish that the devices could provide just a little more.
Instead of just showing me a list of the restaurants at the next interstate exit, I wish they would offer suggestions on where to eat. Knowing which eateries to avoid would be helpful. The GPS could blurt out, “Don’t eat there,” when I started to turn into a restaurant with a less than stellar reputation.
Also, instead of highlighting places to fish in a lake, knowing what baits are working best would be even more helpful.
I’m sure many people scoff at my suggestions for enhancing GPS information and think it would be impossible to ever provide such details.
If somebody had said 25 years ago we would be able to place a device on the dash of our car that could guide us from the Shoals to a home on an out-of-way street more than 2,000 miles away, most people - including myself - would have said, no way. Full GPS for the Furture article here
Indeed, how many would/ And how many today are “driving” right past tremendous opportunities that the combination of GPS and the Internet already make available?
Right now the newspapers and TV are full of stories of hardship and bleak outlooks for the future.
Governments the world over are building up gigantic debts “fighting the last war” … trying to prop up institutions like the stubborn and totally resistant to change US “Big Three” automakers.
What if you, or your company, just went in a different direction … instead of making “pre-rusted” pieces of tin for Detroit and worrying about how many orders are coming in, why not take advantage of the opportunities already out there.
Let me give you just one example that could be done, today, from someone’s basement if they wanted to.
Take a look at Dennis’ “off the cuff” suggestion about restaurant ratings that would prevent him from turning off the Interstate into a dive that wasted his family’s time and money with rancid food?
Well there are dozens of on line restaurant rating services already up and going.
There are thousands of travelers on the road at any given instant using FPS navigators.
Some of these navigators are connected to live services that offer traffic updates, weather updates, etc.
Other navigators aren’t connected to a service but will automatically connect to Wi-Fi Internet to update.
Thousands of truck stops, road side motels, even state rest areas along America’s highways have free 24-7 Wi-Fi hotspots, any passing Wi-Fi devices can connect.
So, charge the best restaurants a small monthly fee to send recommendations to travelers with, say 1– miles.
Or charge the GPS owners a small fee to offer on line trip-tip service.
Or? (you get the point, if you have an ounce of entrepreneurship within your soul.
Don’t wait for tomorrow, GPS tracking can make today tomorrow … and the infrastructure is already in place.
Great GPS Tracking Gets Better
It’s a great Christmas present when news pops up in your browser that one of your old business friends and former suppliers is expanding and doing well.
I sold Geotab hardware products for several years and found both the products themselves and the support and engineering folks at the company absolutley top drawer. More importantly their buisness-oriented GPS management software is hands-down the best in the business.
There are a lot of suppliers out there who make good boxes but their software always seems to be oriented toward ‘Hey, wow, look at the dots’ kind of effort.
Geptab knows what fleet management is all about, from tracking how fast a truck is going to measuring the time a sweeper is actually sweeping and not just driving around … highly recopmmend. I love the format of this site … looks like a lot of great information to make 2009 a better year for all fleet management folks.
Geotab is an end-to-end developer of both the devices that are installed in your vehicles as well as the software that you use to report activity. Geotab is uniquely positioned to provide a solution that is driven to respond to your objectives. With Fortune 500 companies as customers, Geotab continues to drive innovation with value across your company. It is our focus and capabilities to deliver customer-driven solutions that sets Geotab apart as a business solution provider that enables your growth as well as expense reduction. Geotab has been providing solutions that combine GPS technology for business users over 10 years. With flexible choices, Geotab provides the most universal base vehicle platform and scaleable software in the industry. Geotab takes the risk out of your decision and enables you to focus on your needs.
