Car GPS for Today's World - 2012

Koffee_Kosmo

According to the Sygic site it costs 25.00 British pounds for Australia & NZ http://www.sygic.com/en/android:buy-now And for real time traffic add on - its a yearly cost of 15.00 British pounds http://www.sygic.com/en/iphone:traffic KK

Kelsey

Cool, cheaper than it was!

UNM

At risk of drifting even further off topic...

on 1331801384:

Apple is restrictive, and has its flaws, but one aspect of the Apple 'ecosystem' is that things generally just work. Personally I prefer technology  that is free (as in freedom) and place a high enough value on that I am willing to put in a bit of effort. Each to their own.

on 1331803964:

I must admit, I've never really understood this perspective fully. Don't get me wrong - I built my media centre on Ubuntu and XBMC and use Sickbeard and SAB to run the downloads. I build all my sites using Joomla (an OSS platform) which generally uses other OSS. So I understand the idea and execution of open-source. But I've never once felt restricted by using OS. Sure, Apple have their preferred apps and even their preferred app delivery methodology, but you're not compelled to use them or it if you don't want to.

You may not have felt it, but the restrictions are there. NDA's, clauses to prevent reverse engineering, you don't actually own any software - it all belongs to apple and they can take it back any time they feel like it. You can only run apple software on the hardware you bought it on (assuming they don't change their mind and take it back). Also, you can't let some people use your apple device and/or software if they are of a nationality the US doesn't like (and that changes over time - it is up to you to check). I was once in the situation where I was legally unable to hire somebody and give them full access to our systems due to the US export control laws, but also unable to refuse to hire them due to local anti-discrimination laws. Fortunately, they were not the best candidate and the issue did not arise. I have some issues with IP restrictions and feel that the gaining AND SHARING of knowledge is  a worthwhile endeavour. The open source movement fits well with my philosophical leanings as they currently stand. Even if open source isn't always as slick or intuitive as some more commercial offerings, I am often willing to accept that price. Some open source projects are far better than the larger commercial products though (the TC4 shield might well be such a case). Freedom is funny stuff though - we don't want full freedom as some restrictions are actually in our best interests if society is to function.

Kelsey

Sure, and it's particularly the case for the iPhone - not so much for the Desktop. If they want me to stop using something on the desktop, there's nothing physically they can do to stop me (not including licensing restrictions, of course). They do not own much of the software I use cannot simply 'grab something back' on my desktop machine - even of the stuff that they do produce. While it's certainly true that some apps are very good or as good in the open source world, it's not completely the case. Certainly not enough for me to rely on. I couldn't do what I do without Photoshop, for example. Gimp simply doesn't cut the mustard, no matter what anyone says or as much as I'd like to see Adobe supplanted. Some of my tools however are boutique apps - Coda, Transmit, for example. Some are larger - the Adobe suite. Some are Apple's own software - I prefer Pages and Numbers to Word and Excel, for example. But on the desktop the restrictions you're discussing are an abstract concept at most, at least for me.

Koffee_Kosmo

We visited her aunty today She had an unused Aldi brand GPS and gave it to her as a gift Its a 4.3 screen model Go Cruise 4305 So she will give this one a try KK

UNM

on 1331969646:

We visited her aunty today She had an unused Aldi brand GPS and gave it to her as a gift Its a 4.3 screen model Go Cruise 4305 So she will give this one a try KK

That is a newer model of the one I use, but has Sensis mapping (apparently) that I found better than Navteq - it actually has the roundabouts near me rather than thinking they are all cross roads. It runs WinCE, so can be modified to run other navigation s/w. Incidentally, after a phone reboot, I managed to get into the trial version of Sygic. Will post a brief summary of my experiences in a few days - so far nothing outstandingly good or bad about it. There are the usual issues you get with any GPS. "Keep left, then keep right" is pretty meaningless on a relatively straight road with no added/removed lanes, for example.

UNM

on 1331899484:

If they want me to stop using something on the desktop, there's nothing physically they can do to stop me (not including licensing restrictions, of course). They do not own much of the software I use cannot simply 'grab something back' on my desktop machine - even of the stuff that they do produce. While it's certainly true that some apps are very good or as good in the open source world, it's not completely the case. Certainly not enough for me to rely on.

Hmm,  actually there is a lot they COULD do physically (e.g. send the boys round with baseball bats), although I agree it is highly unlikely. I understand there are circumstances where the balance between free (speech not beer) and proprietary means someone would choose one over the other regardless of ethical leanings. My point is that I am willing to pay EXTRA for stuff that is free. ??? Yep, 'tis true. Whether the payment is in $$ or in time, I feel the cost is worth it (up to a point) as freedom once lost is harder to regain.

on 1331899484:

But on the desktop the restrictions you're discussing are an abstract concept at most, at least for me.

Abstract now, but not necessarily that always that way. I think we are in general agreement and just differ in the details of where we draw the line between cost/benefit. The first time I read the GPL (GNU Public License) back in the 80s, I thought it was a beautiful piece of work, but had little inkling of just how effectively it would spread. I have always appreciated a well written contract - perhaps I should have studied law :-| FYI, an interesting (I think) quote from Richard Stallman: The main argument for the term

Koffee_Kosmo

I use on one computer MS Office On the other computer Open Office Both equally good I also like windows style Linux OS KK