JGUI's Follow Me -- GPS Without Maps

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.jgui.net/gps/followme/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.jgui.net/gps/followme/index.html</a><br /><br /></div>Follow Me is a clever idea -- it's a tool to help you navigate using a GPS accessory, but even if you don't have maps. It'll keep track of where you've been, the path you took to get to where you are, and can even do things like record the start point so you know how to backtrack.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20031017-JGUIFollowMe.jpg" /><br /><br />It's designed to work with Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003 and any GPS-Rx device that uses a serial port.

[arebelspy]

Seems a bit silly to me.. If you have a GPS, wouldn't you have maps? What's the point of having a GPS without maps? :P

-arebelspy

[Larrison]

I'm not so sure what the hoopla about this is. I don't have GPS with my iPAQ, but my $100 Garmin eTrex GPS receiver does this as a matter of course. It marks the route I've taken and if I ever need to backtrack I just set it to follow the 'electronic breakcrumbs' back to where I started.

That's pretty cool. I just plug it into my computer which then dowloads the tracks into TOPO! which gives me where I've been and when on topo maps. And of course, there's a way to reverse that too -- put in where you want to go on the map, and the GPS receiver will show you which way to go to follow that route. There's a link to download the topos onto the PDA, but I've not used that.

So I don't know the big deal about this -- its a rather simple GPS application and not having the link to the map is no biggie.

[OSUKid7]

Seems a bit silly to me.. If you have a GPS, wouldn't you have maps? What's the point of having a GPS without maps? :P

No...say you're hiking - a map doesn't do a lot of good if there are no roads nearby. This would let you know how to get back, etc.

[GoldKey]

Seems a bit silly to me.. If you have a GPS, wouldn't you have maps? What's the point of having a GPS without maps? :P

-arebelspy

Most low end GPS's work this way. In fact the first 2 GPS's I ever had (backpack for a palm and a garmin yellow both worked this way). Maps are very nice (both my current units use them), but not necessary depending on what you are using the GPS for.

[asolarino76]

did you see the price? 8O
Cool for navigation system up on a mountain, on the sea,
everywhere there is no roads, A MUST HAVE for those who
own a GPS, it's sad but I'm not yet one of those :cry:

[Kaber]

It's neat, but I don't think its $20 of neat. Especially when apps like GarMapCE (http://www.catnet.ne.jp/fukuda/garmap/e_garmapce.html) and Vito SmartMap (http://vitotechnology.com/products/smartmap_free.html) can be had for free.

[bradolson]

i agree that it doesn't seem to be worth the $20. maybe $10 would be a better price point.

Brad

[Kaber]

I got $10.

[albsilva]

Seems a bit silly to me.. If you have a GPS, wouldn't you have maps? What's the point of having a GPS without maps? :P

-arebelspy

1. There are GPS, like CF-GPS, bluetooth GPS, serial dongle GPS that don't have display, so this is useful
2. When driving off-road, maps are sometimes useless since they lack detail
3. If you decide to walk for a while, you may want to know the way back...

Alberto Silva

[Larrison]

Seems a bit silly to me.. If you have a GPS, wouldn't you have maps? What's the point of having a GPS without maps? :P

-arebelspy

1. There are GPS, like CF-GPS, bluetooth GPS, serial dongle GPS that don't have display, so this is useful
2. When driving off-road, maps are sometimes useless since they lack detail
3. If you decide to walk for a while, you may want to know the way back...

Alberto Silva


As an cheap software add on to an existing GPS/PDA unit, maybe would be useful.. but my experience with around 4-5 different GPS units is that they all have this capability already in the software. I haven't really played with a GPS equipped PDA, so some of the GPS add-ons for PDAs don't have that??

I teach wilderness/ desert orienteering using both GPS and map&compass. We recommend even if you have a GPS to also take a map and compass since everyone knows someone who has reached for their GPS and/or PDA and found the battery was either dead or almost gone. You always want to have a map -- and where we go, there usually aren't roads to follow.

One of the things we teach is how to recover your position on a map, even if you have nothing but a vague general idea where you are. GPS is invaluable in this, since you rapidly know where you are, now. And having a track back function is useful in getting back to somewhere. But for example, if your PDA/ GPS hasn't been turned on until after you realize you're lost, this software won't get you back...