LinkedIn is kind of the bad place, but I'm on there a lot looking for work. I happened to see an informal poll asking if people would go back to a world before AI. I fully expected LinkedIn to be gushing over how great AI is, but (with an admittedly tiny sample size) it's not so hot.
- 59% absolutely want to go back
- 14% say AI is the future
- 22% say they're excited but concerned
- 2% are undecided, somehow.
This made me feel a little better, somehow.
Standalone GPS units you stuck to your windshield with a suction cup were extremely prevalent and became a mature technology in the years before smartphones were viable.
I use the walking and transit functionality of Google maps extensively. Being able to account for "the G is not running but there's a free shuttle bus" is really nice.
Windshields are pretty cumbersome for pedestrians.
Just as well that most pedestrians also have hands, then. Pockets, even.
I've got a handheld Garmin GPS unit that's also a two way radio and a weather radio, and if anyone in your party has a similar radio it can magically put their location and heading on your map on your screen, all via FRS or GMRS without the need for cell towers or any infrastructure whatsoever. The technology can clearly be made. It's just that smartphones have stepped in and eaten the lunches of multiple peripherally related markets.