Had a total GPS fail in downtown Seattle last weekend and somehow it worked out

I was driving to meet a client near Pike Place Market and my phone just completely died. Like black screen, nothing, wouldn't turn back on. I was already late and stuck in that nightmare one-way street grid near the market. Honestly I panicked for a minute then just started following the water because I knew the market was near the bay. Ended up parking in some random lot three blocks away and walked the rest. Found the building by looking for that big public market sign. Client was actually five minutes late too so it didn't even matter. Has anyone else had a tech fail that forced you to actually use your brain and it turned out fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.victor20d agoTop Commenter

Read somewhere that humans actually have a better sense of direction than we give ourselves credit for, and that relying on GPS too much actually makes it worse over time. Like your brain stops paying attention to landmarks and stuff because the phone is doing all the work. So maybe that phone dying was a blessing in disguise for you man. Ive had similar moments where I left my phone at home and actually got where I was going just fine by paying attention to street signs and asking people for directions. It's kind of wild how much we trust these little boxes to tell us how to exist in the world. Makes you wonder how many cool random discoveries we miss out on because were staring at a blue dot on a screen instead of looking around.

danielh8120d ago

Forget the landmarks though... now I just follow the beeping like a confused robot.