My older brother got me completely hooked when he brought his over to my place to check out. I was amazed at how accurate they are. You don’t even have to stare at the thing for directions. It talks to you. Heck, quality auto navigation systems even let you know when you’re off route. The first time I took advantage of one was on a long trip from Salem, Oregon to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Let me tell right now, that is one seriously long trip. Although you may think it’s a blast, it can get rather hairy to say the least if you’re traveling with your family.

It did a pretty good job, though it got a little confused when I ignored a turn command on a one-way street and it had to figure out an alternate route. And that’s the thing about auto navigation systemsas hard as they try to charade as a good human guide, they’re not human. Even GPS devices are flawed in the way that all machines are, and they can’t give you hints based on information that is happening right then in the front seat of your car. They can’t remind tell you to pay attention to where you’re going, or to check the street signs or make a quick turn, they can merely serve as a guide to the best of their programmed ability and you need to do the rest.

Now, practically every car on the road may be equipped with GPS devices, but this does not really mean that you ought to join the bandwagon yourself. If you don’t want to spend the money on GPS devices just yet, you can get the same service through your cell phone. There are services that will send directions through your cell phone, but this will still cost you some money. This might be the way to go if you don’t travel a lot, and only need driving directions a few times a year.