Sat nav........1971 style.
Discussion
ash73 said:
How did they imagine that would ever scale?
Anyhow quite clever linking it to the odometer, I thought it was was just fixed delays to start with - you have 20 seconds to reach the junction or this message will self-destruct!
I don't know how I ever managed without sat-nav, brilliant invention.
Pre satnav I used to rely on gut feel, and when that failed I would dig out a dog eared AA road atlas that was rattling around somewhere in the back of the car. Anyhow quite clever linking it to the odometer, I thought it was was just fixed delays to start with - you have 20 seconds to reach the junction or this message will self-destruct!
I don't know how I ever managed without sat-nav, brilliant invention.
Anyone remember the Microfiche, I remember having one in a briefcase with all the manuals for DEC equipment on it, probably late 80's, and a set of road maps to save carrying full size map books, that and calling in to get the next job. The critical thing to remember was not to drop the slides as it was about 1000 of them in a shoebox and they slid everywhere.
sixor8 said:
I used microfiche quite a bit in the mid 1980s to get manufacturers part numbers for aircraft parts, mostly from Westlands. I imagine some poor sod had a massive data entry job putting them all onto a database... 
I last used microfiche about 4 years ago looking up someone's original pension application. About the same time ago was the last time I used a fax.I think they were in the process of putting some in a database, but considering how rarely they needed to be looked at I don't think they were going to bother.
Many years ago (early 90's), when I was at University, my GF at the time had arranged to come to meet me at home about a week later, but she was rubbish at directions. So I took a tape recorder with me on my drive home, and about 30 mins from my house, started recording and giving directions of what to do at each junction, the speed she should be going and what landmarks were around to make sure she was at roughly the same speed and directed her to where I was waiting in my car, whilst playing some music on my car stereo between instructions.. finished with "and there I am, sitting in front of you".
Then I posted her the tape with instructions where on the journey to start playing it.
It worked perfectly! :-D
Would not work today. One of us would hit traffic.
Then I posted her the tape with instructions where on the journey to start playing it.
It worked perfectly! :-D
Would not work today. One of us would hit traffic.
TriumphStag3.0V8 said:
Many years ago (early 90's), when I was at University, my GF at the time had arranged to come to meet me at home about a week later, but she was rubbish at directions.
Sounds like my wife albeit a few years later when mobile phones were more common. Numerous times she would ring to say she was lost and I would have to try to figure out where she was in order to direct her.On one occasion I asked what street she was in, she said no idea. Are there any large buildings around you, I asked. Can't see any. What about parks or monuments? None. As I lived on the coast, I asked if she could see the sea. No.
"Tell me anything you can see that would help me figure out where you are."
"A green car."
When I was a bike then van courier in the early 80s it was a dog eared A to Z of London.
Longer journeys I would write down the main junction turnings and tape the piece of paper to the dashboard.
If I was heading for say Manchester, I would stop at a motorway services near the city, pop into Smith's and look at the local A to Z and memorise the destination location.
Also there was stopping to ask directions lol.
Longer journeys I would write down the main junction turnings and tape the piece of paper to the dashboard.
If I was heading for say Manchester, I would stop at a motorway services near the city, pop into Smith's and look at the local A to Z and memorise the destination location.
Also there was stopping to ask directions lol.
croyde said:
I would stop at a motorway services near the city, pop into Smith's and look at the local A to Z and memorise the destination location.
]I remember the first time I had to do that!
When I first passed my test I inherited my dad's ancient AA roadmap which was a hardbound A4 book about 300 pages thick , very similar to a Haynes manual. This map had seen a lot of use with plenty of torn edges, dog eared pages, evidence of many coffee spills and a pile of scrap pages, it was far from "1 careful owner."
Never the less it proved to be perfect apart from on a journey to near Stockport where I found the page that I needed with the last 30-40 miles of my journey was torn in half. Like yourself I ended up stopping in the services to look at a new map with no intention of buying it. Being a cheeky lad I managed to acquire a pen & paper from the sales girl. Now you'd think the best plan would be to write down the road numbers/town names, not 17 year old me, I did a sketch
I got completely lost and ended up freestyling it before asking half a dozen different strangers.
aka_kerrly said:
I remember the first time I had to do that!
When I first passed my test I inherited my dad's ancient AA roadmap which was a hardbound A4 book about 300 pages thick , very similar to a Haynes manual. This map had seen a lot of use with plenty of torn edges, dog eared pages, evidence of many coffee spills and a pile of scrap pages, it was far from "1 careful owner."
Never the less it proved to be perfect apart from on a journey to near Stockport where I found the page that I needed with the last 30-40 miles of my journey was torn in half. Like yourself I ended up stopping in the services to look at a new map with no intention of buying it. Being a cheeky lad I managed to acquire a pen & paper from the sales girl. Now you'd think the best plan would be to write down the road numbers/town names, not 17 year old me, I did a sketch
I got completely lost and ended up freestyling it before asking half a dozen different strangers.
There were a few times I did exactly that, doing a sketch on my hand When I first passed my test I inherited my dad's ancient AA roadmap which was a hardbound A4 book about 300 pages thick , very similar to a Haynes manual. This map had seen a lot of use with plenty of torn edges, dog eared pages, evidence of many coffee spills and a pile of scrap pages, it was far from "1 careful owner."
Never the less it proved to be perfect apart from on a journey to near Stockport where I found the page that I needed with the last 30-40 miles of my journey was torn in half. Like yourself I ended up stopping in the services to look at a new map with no intention of buying it. Being a cheeky lad I managed to acquire a pen & paper from the sales girl. Now you'd think the best plan would be to write down the road numbers/town names, not 17 year old me, I did a sketch
I got completely lost and ended up freestyling it before asking half a dozen different strangers.
Wasn't there a gizmo that you had in the car when you rang the AA or someone and they'd give you directions, or am I imagining it.
I bought the original Tom Tom for about £500 from a shop in Tottenham Court Rd and thought it as absolute sorcery
Mind you, it always took a while to find the satellites.
I bought the original Tom Tom for about £500 from a shop in Tottenham Court Rd and thought it as absolute sorcery
Mind you, it always took a while to find the satellites.
Truckosaurus said:
croyde said:
Wasn't there a gizmo that you had in the car when you rang the AA or someone and they'd give you directions, or am I imagining it.
Yes, there was a route planner service, I think it was via the mail originally?Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff