Question about picking between the 1998 atlas or the fancy GPS unit for a cross country drive
Back in 1998 I had to pick between a big road atlas from the gas station and a new handheld GPS unit that cost about $200. I went with the paper atlas because the GPS screen showed almost nothing in rural areas. The atlas got me from Cleveland to Sacramento in 4 days, but the pages for Nebraska and Wyoming were wrong in three spots. One road it showed as paved was actually dirt for 12 miles, and I blew a tire outside a town with a population of 61. My buddy had the GPS and got lost in the same area because the map data was from 1994. So which one would you trust today on a 2,000 mile trip, paper or screen?
12 miles of dirt road outside a town of 61 people is exactly the kind of surprise that makes a great story later and a terrible day when it happens. My sense of direction is so bad I once got lost in a parking garage, so take this with a grain of salt, but I'd trust the screen today since the map data actually updates now.