[PCWorld]

Post your comments for With a GPS Failure Possible, Is It Still Safe To Buy? here

[mlimberg]

Relax, it's just a stunt to make it a pay service...

No free lunch in America you know...

[Aerospaced]

Pay no attention to the rantings of ignorant alarmists.
This happened solely because it was an election year. All of us in defense contracting slowed our production schedules because we weren't sure of what the new administration would do to existing contracts.
We pay out R&D costs and are reimbursed after the contract is fulfilled. If the project gets cut, we're out all we put in.

[WinTard]

Why is this society based on FEAR of the boogeyman?

If someone is in fear to lose a couple hundred dollars, I'd say their lives are pretty miserable and worthless...

~~~~~~~~~~
Misfortune conquers timid souls while great minds subdue misfortune.
{Chinese Proverb}

You can recognize the stature of someone at what makes them afraid.
~ Anonymous

I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason.
~ Klaatu

It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire, and many things to fear.
~ Francis Bacon

Courage is knowing what not to fear.
~ Plato

The most debilitating emotion known to mankind is fear
What is F.E.A.R. False Evidence Appearing Real!
http://www.firewalki.../selfgrowth.jsp

Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality?
~ George Moore

[mlimberg]

WinTard, I don't believe the money is the issue, it's the service. I use GPS more than the average "bear"..... and paying for it would not be an issue. But I believe that some are looking for an entry point to begin to charge.... Ooops, sat falls out of orbit, system wtops working, but we can "fix" it for $14.95 a month.... Entry acheived....

[WinTard]

If one satellite falls, another one will be sent to replace it I suppose? since WAR and the Military are so omnipresent in our culture... I mean, it could be arguable that GPS is critical to civilization?

And the way I see it, other governments across the world, won't let that critical function solely in the hands of the US... So if the US decides to charge, so what?

Actually, I believe it is irrelevant what the US does at this point concerning GPS, somebody else will fix it regardless.

[mattchew04]

They will not let this happen.
What about all the Farmers that use GPS for there crops or the road construction.
GPS is in everything these days. It will not fail because it can't.

[rickcain]

Russia and Europe have their own GPS systems, fear not we can always survive on gray market GPS units.

[Aerospaced]

Entirely correct Matt! There are simply too many devices that rely on GPS, not just cars. You have seen the real big picture, now go to timeout d('~')b

[upsdrvr]

I use it and I like it..BUT..life existed before GPS units, cell phones, IPods, etc.

If they all went away today, life would go on.

[coastie65]

Anybody remember road maps ? They were pretty reliable as I remember, although there were some who made a big production out of refolding them. :D Roads were built in the past by surveying, and ships were guided by celestial navigation, that I think is still taught at the Navy Acadamy and the Coast Guard Acadamy. I don't use GPS and have never had a bit of trouble getting from point "A" to point "B". I don't really think there'll be an issue, because of the National Security aspects as well as Defense. Keep in mind, cruise missles use GPS guidance among other things. coastie

[Aerospaced]

True enough, the trusty sextant and compass still work today and forever.

However, consider this, modern truck drivers, dispatchers, trains, police and even many delivery services use GPS to track the location of product/vehicles in transit.

Degradation of the system would be an inconvenience to them and thier clients.So, overall it has become an integral part of commerce as well as everyday life for many.

Thankfully, 911 calls from cell phones don't use GPS in the conventional sense. They use triangulation between nodes.

[rem736]

in my experience, i have never seen a gps receiver see or lock on to more than 12 satellites at any single point in time. so what is everyone worried about? if all gps satellites are placed in orbit equidistant from one another (and i suspect they are) around the world, there is no way that a receiver will see all of them. at best you will see half of the total satellites. and you only need four for a fix on your location.

[coastie65]

Yeah, I had forgotten about the trucks. I was surprised the first time I saw one on a truck. The driver said it was so the boss could see where he was goofing off at. He had backed the rig completely inside the building so we could load it, and he was "Invisible", at least for a while. :D coastie

[mjd420nova]

Coastie: Back in the day, all we had was LORAN and then came LORAN C and it has been onward and upward since then. GPS has become a staple of many industries tracking services. Just about everything can now be traced, tracked and ID'd. The only problem I've seen with GPS was back during the Gulf war, the insurgents were using Russian made GPS jammers, causing many a GPS guided bomb to miss their intended targets and causing many civilian casualties. Too bad it was self inflicted. NO, I think the US and other countries will continue to support and launch satelites to maintain the system, so buying a unit, if needed is still a good idea.

[coastie65]

I am familiar with Loran. The Coasties ran the stations. We had a transmitter at the station I was on , on Cape Cod. Even then, you still needed the old sextant and a watch when you were way out to sea as you were out of range of any signals. There is always someone out there who lives to figure ways to thwart technology. coastie

[upsdrvr]

Again, commerce was transacted fine without the ability to track vehicles. IF, and that's a big if, GPS was lost, it would not cause any harm to customers. As the driver you spoke to stated, the GPS is there to track him.

[MrUmbra]

I have never seen so much misunderstanding, misinformation, ignorance and cynicism on a technical matter.
This has nothing to do with pay services, securing funding or petty Washington politics. National policy states this is a free service and the congress has continued to provide amble funding funding to maintain the GPS infrastructure.

The European system currently consists of two test satellites. The Chinese system is just getting started. The Russian system is now being rebuilt after years of neglect and still isn't quite ready for 'prime time'.
There are currently 30 useful GPS satellites with several spares in orbit. There is a new one to be launched in August and the first of 12 more new satellites from Boeing has finally arrived at the Cape for launch late this year. The Air Force has done quite well replacing older satellites with new ones, moving existing satellites for best coverage and keeping the existing equipment calibrated and working. The system accuracy continues to improve being more than adequate for consumer applications.
There is little likelihood the system will catastrophically fail next year. So, don't listen to all this alarmist tripe; go out and buy a GPS navigator.
--- CHAS

[mlimberg]

I have never seen so much misunderstanding, misinformation, ignorance and cynicism on a technical matter.
This has nothing to do with pay services......



Dear Friend, I must disagree with your thought that GPS for General Public use has nothing to do with pay services. Sooner or later, someone will find a way to make this a "pay for use" service. The rest of the rhetoric I don't care about. But is appears to me that this is a way in begin the process of informing the public that there is a huge expense behind GPS, and that "free" will not be part of the accounting practices in the future.

[AskTheGPSExperts]

Too bad the media scared everyone. I really wish they would come out with a new report to restore trust in the technology.

This is a great article by David. I have posted a link to it on AskTheGPSExperts.com forum.