The development of GPS and multi-functional devices such as the iPhone and the Blackberry have moved cell phones far beyond the realm of simply getting directions, calling and texting. They have become multi-functional communication hubs that, for many people, have become necessary gadgets.
The various applications and uses of these devices have put GPS and Apples’s App Store in Wired magazine’s list of the Top 10 Technology Breakthroughs of 2008.
Though GPS is not a new technology, its development and implementation into cell phones and cars have made it more easily accessible and applicable to everyday life, leading Wired to place it at No. 6 in its top 10.
Kimi Gutierrez, a fourth-year civil engineering student, said she thinks GPS is an impressive technology and that it saves people a lot of time.
“Just the fact that it can pretty much tell where you are and give directions in less than 30 seconds, I think it’s impressive and has improved a lot of people’s lives,” she said.
GPS was intended for military use until 1983, when Ronald Reagan said the technology should be released for civilian use once it was more developed.
GPS was first available for civilian use in 1993, and five years later, then-President Bill Clinton issued an executive order that allowed the civilian technology to be as accurate as the military technology. GPS has continued to advance, and sophisticated systems are accurate up to within four inches.
“If I had GPS, it would be easier because you don’t have to prepare ahead of time, but I kind of like knowing where I’m going before I go,” said Layla Hiramatsu, a second-year undeclared student, who said she does not own a GPS system.
“I usually just call someone that’s near a computer and have them figure it out for me, but usually I don’t get lost because I look it up first,” she said.
Bryant Law, a fourth-year civil engineering student, said he finds GPS useful because it provides traffic information and because he didn’t want to have to print a map every time he needed directions.
“I never get lost. If I do get lost, it’s really easy to find my way back where I need to be and save a lot of time because I can avoid traffic jams,” he said.
New innovations in cell phones and location awareness applications in Web browsers have expanded the ways in which GPS technology can be used.
Mozilla is developing an application for Firefox called Geode, which allows Web sites to request access to a computer’s location to make searching for directions and nearby restaurants more convenient.
The user can choose to allow or deny Web sites access to their location and select how specific the information released is down to the city, neighborhood or block.
Geode is similar to Yahoo’s Fire Eagle and Google’s Google Gears, and can also be used for blogging and social-networking Web sites.
It is also possible to “geotag” photos with the time and place with units that can attach to some cameras.
In addition to the innovations in location awareness, the iPhone has an ever-increasing number of useful applications, putting the Apple App Store at No. 1 on Wired’s list.
“It’s awesome that there’s a strong user base for the phone, it really enhances how good the phone is,” Law said.
“Everyone’s trying to make it better by releasing applications. Apple’s really lucky that so may people want to improve their software,” he said.
Law said the his favorite application is Shazam, which tells the user the title, album and artist of a song when it’s playing. He said it’s useful because DJs don’t always give information about a song when they play it on the radio.
The Blackberry, while it does not have as many applications as the iPhone, also makes connectivity and functions such as GPS and e-mail more convenient for users.
Gutierrez said that her Blackberry is her life in her hand, but while it has helped her to organize, she feels she may depend on it too much.
“I used to have a regular-sized notebook planner. It was a hassle … and not as convenient as Blackberry, which I get to pull out whenever I need it. I’m a little bit too attached to it at this point. Yeah, it’s improving my life, but on the other hand, I’m a little too dependent on it,” she said.
The popularity of cell phones with multiple functions is coupled with the development of Web sites that cater to these phones and the people who use them.
Web sites like Twitter can send status updates to cell phones and are often used by newspapers for news updates.
Kevin Sablan, Web Task Force Team Leader of the Orange County Register, said that he and a few co-workers initially used their personal Twitter accounts to connect with other journalists and post news updates.
They recently made an official account for the paper and have gotten positive results.
“We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback; a lot of people are enjoying it,” he said. “People said we’re really connecting with the community.”
He added that oftentimes they are able to get news about something like an accident faster through Twitter and can make contact with people in the community more quickly.
Hiramatsu, also a Twitter user, said, “Everything that can be done via Twitter can be done via text messaging, so it’s kind of like not a substitute because it’s not as convenient as texting.”
She said that because not everyone receives status updates via text, mass texts are more effective in reaching people in a timely manner.
The top innovations of 2008, according to Wired, are ones that were small but helped make the technology many people use every day more convenient and efficient.
“For me, it’s probably the technology I use most often. I pretty much check every other day to see if new applications (for the iPhone) are out. Most times I’m in the car, I’ll be using GPS just to make sure I’m not going to hit traffic anywhere. I think they do deserve the top spot,” Law said.