Read Everything Before Doing Anything … Even With GPS

 Ever been the victim of one of those clever school exercises where the teacher hands out a list of numbered instructions, the first one being “Read everything before doing anything”?  Of course most of the class doesn’t, performs all sorts of silly tasks that the list calls for, and then find that the last instruction said, “Ignore all the previous instructions and sit quietly in your seat”.

When I posted yesterday regarding the Mobio Networks Cheap Gas Widget, I woulda, coulda, shoulda look through more of their web site, becuase I made the erroneous assumption that the widget was not GPS-driven by choice.  I find it is not GPS-driven by several reasons, none of them reluctance to use the technology … so my apologies to anyone at Mobio who felt slanged.

The first reason just chaps my hide … I’ll be writing more on this subject, for sure.  The consumer pays for a phone with GPS capability, pays the carrier a substantial charge to sue that capability, we all pay taxes to make the GPS system free for use … and then the carriers hold the customer’s own data up for ransom?  Interesting.  What holiday is it this weekend?  Our veterans fought for what?

The second reason I also found interesting … and proof that it pays not to be a one-trick pony … GPS is not always the best answer for location based solutions.  Read Mobio Networks FAQS answer on why they don’t use GPS for the Cheap Gas Widget (at least for now) here and you may learn something … I sure did.

Ya’ll have a great Memorial Day weekend and don’t worry, Mr. GPS never sleeps, there will be plenty in the “new posts” column when you get back to the office next week.