Vent: My uncle's 20 year old GPS unit made me question modern tech

Had a convo with my uncle Dave last weekend. He still uses a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx from like 2006 on his hikes. I laughed at first, said why not just use your phone? He pulled out his phone, showed me the battery at 40% after 2 hours of maps, then showed me his GPS with 3 weeks of battery life. Then he said something that hit different: 'The satellites don't care how fancy your screen is.'\n\nMade me think about all the conspiracy theories around cell towers and tracking. Here's a guy who's been off grid for decades, never gets lost, and trusts a device that runs on AA batteries. Meanwhile my phone dies in the cold and I'm worried about some app selling my location data. Maybe we traded reliability for convenience and nobody questioned it.\n\nHas anyone else had a similar moment where old school tech made you rethink what matters? Or is my uncle just a weirdo?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

laura_chen418d ago

Is your uncle really making some deep point about society, or is he just a guy who likes his old gadget? I get that battery life is nice, but my phone does way more than point at a trail, and I'm not exactly out hiking for three weeks straight. Also, the whole "satellites don't care" thing sounds deep until you remember your phone uses the same satellites, just with a better screen and a camera attached. And honestly, if apps selling my location bothers me that much, I just turn that setting off. People act like we traded our souls for a map app, but I still end up lost with both. Your uncle's not wrong, but he's not saying anything revolutionary either.

3