Driving one of Mr. B.’s cronies home from an afternoon of video games the other day, I would glance now and then at his iPhone which was displaying a GPS app giving directions.
Poor kid didn’t even know his address, only that it was typed into the app by his mother. The directions were pretty plain. I had no trouble seeing them as he held the phone up for me. The arrows indicating which way to turn were nice and big and black.
The Democrats, however, don’t like these things. They don’t like anything except what they approve and so Wormtongue and his minions are bringing the law to these apps. And you, of course, if you use them. Doesn’t everyone?
Distracting, they say. Could cause accidents, they say. Not enough graft for them, I say. Unless they have a new regulation to raise the bidding on exceptions. Also known as bribes. The way Obamacare gives exceptions to labor unions and others who’ll vote the Democrat way.
Says Instapundit: “It has the support of automakers because they want to keep charging you $2000 for a nav system that’s not as good as your smartphone.”
It’s about regulating competition, not safety for me and thee. The feds don’t care about your stinking safety. Pretty soon you’ll need to hold the phones lower down so passing cops can’t see them and demand their cut by issuing an expensive ticket. Which will make glancing at them more dangerous.
Via Instapundit.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 
Back In My Day, my training and use and, eventually, expertise in navigation (and here I refer to land nav as well as celestial – which ironically came in quite handy in the desert) was literally vital. In those military situations, I would still insist on a thorough knowledge of the fundamentals.
But the basic navigation aid found on smart phones today (I recently stepped up to the new Samsung Galaxy S-5) are absolutely marvelous. Snapped into its holder that is suctioned securely to the windshield, bluetoothed to my LG around-the-neck double-earphone device, I am assured of usually reliable information that is far easier than using a road map. One does have to apply a modicum of common sense to her instructions (I call her Chloe), as she sometimes makes some rather spurious recommendations, though last night her initially bewildering adjustment guided me around a traffic tie-up on the interstate. She also seems to lose it completely around military bases, insisting that I drive through a long-padlocked gate or sending me across a live grenade range. Again, don’t be afraid to over-rule her, she doesn’t mind.
I find that the free navigation feature alone is worth the cost of the phone.
The link points to an article about Iraq. Otherwise, I am flabbergasted. The GPS application causes accidents? Oh boy…
Thanks for the tip. The link is fixed. It’s a political sham, just like global warming by whatever it’s latest name is. As Insty says: it’s a secret subsidy for the car makers which will give their systems a monopoly.
Just like illegal gambling, drinking and whoring, nothing will change except those who get caught will pay a fat fine.