One of the benefits of being highly visually oriented is that I have an excellent memory for maps. I have rarely gotten lost if I've seen a map of a place. Also, if I've been somewhere once I can get there again >90% of the time. Coupled with an excellent memory, it means I rarely get lost. Thus I developed something of a derisive attitude towards SatNav systems. I have an atlas, why do I need one? Well, it turns out what I really wanted one for was realtime traffic updates.
Thus I have acquired a TomTom XL, which is now a fixture on my windshield. But already I have developed an odd relationship with it. Many trips to Cape Hatteras with people who had SatNavs convinced me that one of the pure joys of having one was picking a voice that your passengers despised with the burning intensity of a thousand suns. Apparently there's nothing more amusing than torturing your trapped friends and family with an incredibly annoying voice for hours on end. I suspect SatNav Rage is an underreported crime. Which is why my TomTom happily chides me in the slurry tones of Eddie Izzard ("Thank God you're here, I can shut up now").
This isn't my problem. My problem is that TomTom tries to tell me what to do, and I don't like it. I got a SatNag and I'm annoyed it functions properly. Fucking bizarre, nicht war?
So, I have taken to toying with it. I've intentionally not taken a turn it wants me to take just to make it "recalculate" and annoy it. It's a computer, I know that, but still I find it strangely satisfying.
Here's my other problem, I suspect that I have unintentionally acquired some sort of greater public responsibility. TomTom allegedly updates a database with real data to decide on the fastest route. What if you, like me, intentionally ignore its advice when you know it's wrong? How will the Mythical TomTom Database ever learn? It will never gather the data it needs if some of us don't make a small sacrifice of time. I'm serious, I'm actually wondering this.
Being hyperanalytical sucks sometimes.
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