On many university campuses, students are surrounded by old, even historic, trees that sponsors had planted to commemorate loved ones and alumni. The Chronicle of Higher Education has this story on the creation of digital maps of these memorial trees, using GPS technology to record their location, after which a cartographer manualy places these trees on an aerial photo map. Supposedly visitors will now be able to locate specific trees easily, but whether this includes lending out GPS devices to visitors is not clear.
The GPS has been in military use since the late 1970s and later spread to the civil sector (as technology and military control allowed), but it only seems recently to have taken on life in popular culture. Sure, there's a few luxury vehicles with GPS technology integrated into the onboard computer, but I'm thinking more of GPS for the masses.
For instance, there's a recent Jeep commercial where a girl drops a note to a guy in a cafe, presumedly with a message or phone number on it, giving him a suggestive look as she leaves the room. At the end of the commercial we find that this girl left a set of coordinates behind and that the two hipster Jeep owners are "tuned in" to the latest technology.
While I have used GPSs before, I've always found when backpacking or competing in orienteering events that topographic maps are simply much more useful. Instead of simply giving you a precise location and elevation ("absolute" information), maps give you "relational" information (albeit info that can not be automatically updated). Wityh maps, you can position yourself in relation to landmarks and use a range of information (slope, terrain type, weather, etc.) to choose a path that is not necessarily the most direct, such as the as-the-crow-flies bearings that GPSs can give you between two points, but chosen to match the contextual demands before you. Of course, most probably use the two technologies together, but in most situations, I'd rather have a topographic map (and a compass) over the GPS.
I do believe though that technologies are generally moving more toward giving us "relational" information rather than "absolute" information.
Re: Universities Use GPS to Take Tree Census
I just read a scientific American article that claims the government can use the existing cell phone network as a type of radar, or "celldar" as some in this strange industry call it. The system is passive on the cell phone end, and there's no way the end-user can keep from being part of the celldar.
The system works by tracking objects blocking the transmission. If enough cell phones are in area, the celldar has excellent triangulation and can make out some pretty fine detail. The government wants to use celldar to heighten security around strategic locations.
Re: Universities Use GPS to Take Tree Census
I admit to being a GPS junkie -- most weekends, I can be found trekking out in the woods or on beaches, trusty eTrex in hand. Why? Because I'm a geocacher, someone who uses a GPS to search for hidden caches. You can find out more at http://www.geocaching.com. Part of the reason for the recent surge in popularity of this sport, and of the use of a GPS in general, is that non-military users have only had access to actual coordinates for a few years. Prior to this, any satellite readings were at least several yards off -- precise data was impossible to receive.
As I've gotten more adept at using the GPS, I rely on maps less often. There are certainly times when I use them -- plotting things on a large scale, or while we're driving (and the speed of the car negates the usefulness of the data in the GPS). One of the nicest features on a GPS is the breadcrumb trail -- it can help you find your way back out of a dense forest (which is a definite plus out here in the Pacific Northwest).
By and large, though, I'd probably still use paper maps for backpacking -- mostly because of their familiarity and light weight (extra batteries can be heavy!).
My sister uses her GPS, in tandem with maps, for back country rafting and hiking. She's a geographer, so she combines her tools pretty well. She also works with GIS data for a large city -- maintains their networks and coordinates pipeline placement, all relying on the data from highend GPS units. She'd probably argue that the use of satellites to pinpoint location has radically changed the way we make maps, both physically and mentally. It's not just the accuracy, but the "envisioning" that has changed.
By the way, there are topographic maps available for most GPS systems, and many GPS units come with an actual compass inside (important when you need to pinpoint direction, rather than base it on movement).
Cindy (who's thinking she needs to find some of those campus trees now...)