Weekly Written Analysis 4

As I am a person who has never embraced technology and thought that snail mail and pencil and paper are the way to go because they are reliable. It is amazing to me that I cannot read a map. That is what makes a GPS system so great. It enables those of us who never took the time to learn to read a map to get where we are going the chance to take a trip without getting lost.
“The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed by the United States Department of Defense.” (Wikipedia, 2009) What the GPS does is it takes a receiver and calculates the position that is received by a satellite high above the earth. This signal therefore shows the precise location of where the receiver is therefore it is able to give directions to the location that is put in by the user.
Although many people use the GPS in order to give them driving directions, emergency personal use GPS to be able to locate people when they are in distress. GPS has been installed in a number of cell phones allowing the user to be located in case of an emergency. Saving thousands of lives that may have otherwise been lost because they could not tell the operator their location.
What an excellent invention the GPS is. It keeps us from getting lost and allows us to be found if we are lost. Although afraid of technology this is one type I am glad I embraced. Being able to travel and find where you are going without having to stop and ask for directions in a place that you are not familiar with makes traveling a lot less stressful. With the uncertainty of the world that we live in today it is nice to know that we can stay in the safety of our cars and still get directions to our destination.
 
References
Wikipedia (2009). Global positioning system. Retrieved January 28, 2009. from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System

Picture Reference
Wikipedia (2009). Global positioning system. Retrieved January 28, 2009. from, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System