5 Reasons I Want to Punch My GPS

I was amazed to just find out my built in GPS was actually made by Garmin. After using a Garmin Nuvi for years and now having a built in GPS, I feel like it’s a huge downgrade. There are some usability issues that I need to complain about (written as spoken to my GPS):

1. How about telling me my arrival time? That’s usually helpful. Sure it’s “cool” to impress people by physically asking the car out loud “how long until destination” and it tells you how long, but who feels like calculating their arrival time? I don’t care how long it takes me to get there, I just want to know if I’m going to be late.
2. If I mess up and you need to recalculate, please tell me, don’t just display that little “recalculating” on the upper 100th of the screen. Chances are if I am being recalculated, I’m lost and I’m not paying constant attention to the screen. Tell me out loud that I need to look at you and see that I screwed up somewhere.
3. A U-Turn is not a “Fork in the Road”. I’m not sure who taught you that, but it isn’t true. See the photo here. Although it’s bad quality, it’s an example of one of the many U-Turns that you insist calling a “Fork in the Road”. Is it possible you are confusing a fork with a spoon and maybe the shape… ahhh forget it.
4. When it’s night, the red roads on a black background are, lemme tell ya, a real treat to see. I have perfect vision and have to strain like crazy to tell that it’s a road. I know it’s on off-route road, but I still need to see it.
5. This is my fav… I punch in an addy, you tell me how to get there and it takes, say, 20 minutes. I decide to take another route. You recalculate (of course not telling me out loud) and the destination time changes to 16 minutes. I know, I know, you think I have you set at easiest route instead of fastest route but I don’t. You’re supposed to be the fastest route so how come I know the fastest route and you don’t?

Bottom line, we need to find a way to work better together. I’m still not over the fact that I’m actually driving the mini-van that you’re attached to so I really need you to tighten things up.

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