Except that there are plenty of times when a paper map or referencing a map on a phone aren't helpful solutions. Cases like being in unfamiliar areas, or at night, etc. If I am driving home from someplace I don't know very well, I don't want to pull over to check a paper map on the side of the road, or be driving down the highway with the inside light on while I consult written directions, or with only one hand on the wheel because I need to click next on google maps.
And you know what, I have a great deal of trouble with getting lost. For whatever reason, my sense of direction is dreadful. It takes several times before I get comfortable with familiar routes. I have plenty of other talents, my intelligence is not the issue, I just can't wrap my head around directions. It's just one of those things. The running joke with my friends if we are lost is to ask me which way to go, and then choose the opposite path.
For years I relied as best I could on maps, mapquest, google maps on phones, etc. They are ok, but nothing beats my GPS. In the 4-5 months since I got it, I am definitely too attached to ever go back.
It's all a matter of opinion. I totally understand where chr1s60 and SFCArcher are coming from, but I unfortunately don't have the innate skill or the training that others have had in finding their way. There are plenty of objections to GPS, and for someone with a great sense of direction, obviously they aren't as necessary. I am just playing devil's advocate and pointing out times where GPS makes a great deal of sense, depending on your knowledge level, where you are, etc. Planning ahead is useful, but sometimes doesn't always cover all the contingencies.
(And this whole thread is giving me deja vu, since I have had this very discussion with my girlfriend a few times; she's totally comfortable and understands where she is wherever we are, and I'm left going, "We've been down this street? Really?")
