 |
|
BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters avoid printing directions for three trips, we'll save enough paper for 8,640 copies of Car & Driver magazine.
COCKTAIL FACT
Dispelling the myth that guys never ask for directions, a AAA study found that lost male drivers stopped to ask directions 34% of the time - only 3% less frequently than women.
| SAVE TO MY BITES |  |
FORWARD TO A FRIEND:
RATE THIS TIP:
How useful is this tip to you?
(5 is the highest)
home › tip library › Driving Directions
Does following driving directions to somewhere new feel like a paper chase?
The Bite
Not if you use a cell-phone directions service. New cell-based driving directions provide free, easy instructions for how to get where you're going....without leaving a ginormous trail of printed directions in your wake.The Benefits
- Free, on-the-go driving directions. GPS devices cost anywhere from $100-$1,000. Our phone-based options are free.
- More trees to admire along the way. Each day, 3.3 million people consult MapQuest; if each person prints a set of directions, they'll use 13,200 reams of paper.
- Arriving on time. Accessing directions on the way helps you avoid being unfashionably late.
Personally Speaking
The last time Heather rented a car, she got lost and had to ask Sara to text MapQuest directions to her as she drove. Thank goodness her new Prius has a GPS system...the question is, will she use it?Wanna Try?
- Tellme - call 1-800-555-TELL (8355), and say, "Driving directions."
- Google Mobile - text GOOGLE (466453), enter your starting address, then to, then your destination, and get free directions via text messaging.
Aug 31,2007
Sponsor
All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
The Course…Never Did Run Smooth
So I learned to fly in a 70s era Cessna 152-a light and little two-seat contraption with nary a bell nor whistle. Navigation meant consulting charts, weather reports, and maps, and required tons of manual mathematical calculations. (Did I mention I majored in English Lit?)
Where was Google Mobile when I needed it?
-Jenifer Morgan...off to fly blind...
Where was Google Mobile when I needed it?
-Jenifer Morgan...off to fly blind...
Biter Comments...
That's great as long as you're driving in places where wireless reception is good. I do a good deal of my driving in rural areas where there is no reception, so can't rely on my phone if I need to update the directions (bridge out? Argh!). Rather than print out the tediously long direction pages that the mapping websites provide, I grab a piece of scrap paper (usually something I've already printed on one side for work), and write down the website's directions in my own words and shorthand, and draw in any map I actually need.
Great ideas...but please don't text message while driving! There has been quite a lot of recent media attention on the dangers of text messaging while driving, especially after an accident earlier this year that killed several girls was linked to texting while driving. The phone options are great, or pull over to get your text directions.
I do what Brandi does when I'm at my tech-illiterate parents' home, but one of the upsides of public transit is that that's one fewer thing for me to worry about.
Another option, because as a map-oriented person, I know that the visual can be really helpful, is to print it on office paper that's good on one side. I pick it up from near copy machines in libraries or at copy centers to use a bit more before it goes back into the recycling bin.
The options above are not really free. What you pay depends on your current cellphone contract. My contract doesn't include texting or web browsing for free. We never need it so we don't pay the $10.00 extra per month it would cost to add that as an unlimited feature. Since we don't get dinged for mobile to mobile calls, we're lucky if we use 15 minutes a month of what is allotted. So over time, the cost of a GPS device would be recovered. In particular, I could pay for a GPS in less than a two-year contract extension on my plan. Add in that a GPS device usually has a larger screen and vocal cues, it is probably better than trying to use the smaller screens of most cellphones while trying to drive.
Always evaluate all your options and don't assume that because the details are buried in a confusing 15 page bill every month that something is free. Except for the air you breathe, very little is truly free these days. And I am sure someone is trying to figure out how to charge us for air.
What is all the energy from cell phones doing to all living things? It lights up areas of our brains with red. I agree with saving trees by not printing,but I'm not sure cell phones are the answer.
GOOGLE MAPS! It is a free Java based application for your web enabled phone and it is awesome. Just download it and enter an address and it works just as well as their internet based map service. It even includes satelite view. I pay $5.00 per month with T-moble for the web access and since the map service is free I am never lost. Oh and for all you Mapquesters, I think you are crazy for still using such bulky antiquated software and ugly maps. Google baby! No I don't work for them.
What about all the cancer causing radiation of cell phone usage? And isnt' it purportedly killing the bees? I write directions on scratch paper and recycle when I'm through.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Smp13 | August 31, 2007 at 05:28 AM