Take a minute and remember the last twenty years of your life. Technology has literally transformed the way we live so much, that most of the things available are or will become a necessity. A good example of this is a GPS system that you find in your mobile phone. Most of these tiny little pieces are situated inside the SIM card and can keep track of your location. It’s an amazing feat, when not too long ago cell phones looked like huge walkie-talkies.
GPS is offered on most of the newest Sim free mobile phones as long as you have access to a 3G network, but is it as good as a stand alone GPS unit like the hand held Garmin units or the ones built into cars? The simple answer is not yet. Cell phones try to be a lot of things all at once: camera, keyboard, MP3 player, video game console, GPS unit, oh yeah – and a telephone. The result is they are not the best at any of these things compared to a stand alone unit.
If you want to take another angle and actually compare the phones to stand alone products, there is one major downfall to GPS tracking on a cell phone. Any time we drive and need help finding a location, we have to focus on the small mobile phone screen. This can create havoc on the road and even cause accidents. In fact, stand alone products use this to promote safety with their own creations.
The point is if you’re using a GPS for your car, the stand alone is better. However, anywhere else you’ll want to be using a mobile phone. Unless of course you’re going to strap that puppy on like a backpack and lug it around everywhere.
Right now, both the cell phone and the GPS markets are growing. The problem for the GPS manufacturers is that if customers had to choose only one, they would certainly choose the cell phone and more and more phones are being offered with GPS capabilities for no charge. That means that consumers will only buy a GPS unit if the one on their Sim free mobile phone is not good enough. And for many people it will be just fine.
Even market analysts agree that GPS units will grow for 3-5 more years thanks to lowered prices. However, once this period is over the stand alones will all but disappear as people upgrade their smart phones. Once cell phones are able to compete with GPS systems on a quality standpoint (especially voice options), people will cease to buy the stand alone versions. Even all the negativities that surround a mobile phones screen size will be combated with multi-functionality and portability.
It’s a great example of how the world turns, and when one product comes out there is always another one in the works. The end result is great for technology, but bad for the companies that spent millions manufacturing obsolete products.
Tags: Sim Card, Life Technology, Gps Manufacturers, Video Game
