Media Meditation #4: GPS and Mapquest

A few weeks ago my friend ross and I took a short road trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire to visit my friend Zack at his school, Plymouth State. The overall drive to Plymouth was just under three hours and was navigated by a GPS. Prior to leaving, we also printed out directions to Plymouth from Mapquest, to account for the unknown in case something went wrong.
The directions from mapquest and the GPS were both completely different. The GPS led us through endless back roads to get to New Hampshire, as opposed to Mapquest which has several highways and connecters. The GPS is able to calculate the quickest route to the destination and take account for road and weather conditions, The GPS also displayed the speed limit, my speed, weather, time, and also has several different voices directing you.
Through the whole drive, we remained faithful to the GPS and did not doubt it once. A GPS is such a convenient tool to use when traveling, even if you get lost or miss a turn, the GPS can recalculate the route in seconds, GPS is a technological shift in today's culture. We now have satellites that are able to communicate through this little electronic device, it just shows how advanced we are becoming and how technology dependent we are.
The GPS takes no effort once you put in your destination, all you need to do is listen to the directions and act accordingly. The GPS effects the Neocortex of your brain when you are listening to the directions being given. Also, the GPS is programmed using a pacing principle. meaning that the GPS warns you when the next direction is coming up and repeats this directions three times to make sure that the driver is able to comprehend.