The war of Man vs. Machines

[Mr Hero]

This happened Sunday morning.

SC: What's the address for the airport?
Me: I'm really not quite sure, but I could give you directions.
SC: No, I need an address so I can punch it into my GPS.

(and have it do the same thing I just offered to do?)

[EvilEmpryss]

Duh... most GPS units also recognize the name of airports and don't need the address.

[Pedersen]

(and have it do the same thing I just offered to do?)

Actually, unless you're going to ride along to help re-route around traffic or deal with potential missed turns and re-routing for that, it's not entirely the same thing. It's close, but that is one thing the GPS does that you're not likely to be doing, and is why, if I were him, I'd give similar to the same reply.

Maybe that can help reduce the sting of his suckiness a bit. I hope, anyway.

[taxguykarl]

Couldn't this SC just follow the signs on the highway? Every airport I've traveled to was well-marked.

[Sheldonrs]

This is a new pet peeve of mine. It USED to be (yes, another "when I was younger" story) you could tell a friend, etc. to meet you at StarBucks on the corner of ________ & _________ and they could find it.
Now, apparantly, you need to have the exact address to your own ass to be sure you get to the right one.

[Nurian]

I've had that conversation, but from the customer's PoV. I prefer the GPS, personally (when taken with a grain of salt) because I've been given wrong information over the phone by someone (yes, to a business. Yes to their work.). The GPS will get me to where I can follow the signs. I also use it to map the area.

But to an airport? Never done that. Never had to. The signs tell me really easily where to go :-/

[draftermatt]

Most GPS units (that I've seen) have a "landmark" feature, where you can put in a stadium, airport, hospital, etc.

Hell my wife's will find stuff for you! If you ask it to find Starbucks it will search until it finds one nearby, then give you directions to it. Her phone (Droid) does that too.

[Merriweather]

I prefer the GPS, personally (when taken with a grain of salt) because I've been given wrong information over the phone by someone (yes, to a business. Yes to their work.).

I've been selling a lot of stuff lately on Craigs List, and sometimes when I offer directions they really get this attitude "I don't need them, just give me the address, I have a GPS" (put emphasis on the "I" to get the tone).

First, there are several streets around here that mapquest, gps systems, etc. continue to treat as connected, when in fact, "you can't get there from here". Also, when giving directions to my own house, I'm more likely than any system to tell you which end of the street to come in from based on ease of turning into my driveway, or avoiding where the kids play in the street, etc. I can also tell you that when you turn on street "x" it'l be right beside a pink chinese restaurant, otherwise even with a gps you'll have a hard time telling that tucked back in street from several wide drives into businesses.

Having directions from the person at that address, in addition to your gps, isn't going to hurt, and could help. Personally, most of the people I've encountered, I swear only turn down directions because it gives them a chance to tell someone they have a gps

Personally, my favourite navigation system was in the UK - I'm officially naming it the PNS - Pub Navigational System. In almost a decade there, I don't think I recall ever getting a set of directions that didn't include at least one pub. We stretched out pennies to sightsee and travel as much as humanly possible, and directions generally consisted of "Turn left at the White Horse, go about 5 miles then turn right at the Kings Arms, then make another right at the Golden Pheasant..... Easy to follow, easy to see, easy to remember, and most of those pubs have been there longer than you or I

[Midorikawa]

It USED to be (yes, another "when I was younger" story) you could tell a friend, etc. to meet you at StarBucks on the corner of ________ & _________ and they could find it.
Now, apparantly, you need to have the exact address to your own ass to be sure you get to the right one.

It's not our fault there's a density of 3 starbucks/block. :-P

[Magpie]

Or three intersections of those two streets. (Of course, there's a reason that "the corner of King and Weber" is considered a joke).

Having the GPS is nice, but I have limited faith in its ability to navigate into Toronto's Pearson airport. It might do better than the signs, but that's not necessarily good enough to get where you want to go in the first or second circuit of the place.

[Merriweather]

It's not our fault there's a density of 3 starbucks/block. :-P

We have 3 Starbucks within a quarter mile of our house We live in a residential area up on a hill above a main artery street. At the closest main intersection (bottom of the hill) there's a Starbucks inside a large grocery, and directly opposite the street is a stand-alone Starbucks in a strip mall. Then they built one just two blocks down the street (right next to one of our many locally owned one-off coffee drive thru's.

Personally, I was upset, I asked the person running the independent one about it drawing business, and they said actually, it's had the reverse effect - their position was relatively quiet and tucked back, but since Starbucks went in they get noticed as well, and get tons of overflow business when people don't want to wait in the ridiculous drive thru lines at Starbucks. So at least in this case, score one for the little guy

[Midorikawa]

That's gotta be the first time I've heard of StarBucks actually giving business to the little guy. Back in Lubbock, TX where I grew up, they opened a starbucks across the street from every local coffee shop in town. It's been hellish, and 3 have already closed, including my 2 favorites, both closed shortly after I moved to Utah.

After hearing all the hype, I decided to try it. Went in, bought a coffee, paid $5 for this little dinky thing, took one sip, then threw it out. Most bitter, nasty thing I've ever put in my mouth.

To their credit, I did find a use for their coffee: Waiting in line for a black friday sale (moment of weakness), typical West Texas winds kicked in, gusting up to 50MPH, adding a cold wind chill to the 20F temps we already had. Starbucks coffee makes a rather nice hand warmer.

[Imogene]

because I've been given wrong information over the phone by someone (yes, to a business. Yes to their work.

Speaking as someone who is directionally-challenged, if you're not coming from My House to get to My Work, I can only guess at the directions to give you if you're coming from East Unknown Street.

[Jetfire]

Or three intersections of those two streets. (Of course, there's a reason that "the corner of King and Weber" is considered a joke).

Well if the Mathies would ever get rid of the Black Hole that is 6th Floor MC, then maybe the roads would straighten out again.

[dalesys]

...Now, apparently, you need to have the exact address to your own ass to be sure you get to the right one.

Oh dear! Let me check...

Damn! How long have I been wiping someone else's ass?