Interested in tablet computing?

[tmc]

One of my justifications: I was just about to buy a marine chartplotter/GPS for our old sailboat the other day. You can pay $800 for one of these and still only get nothing more than a 4" screen. It sucks. (Zumo anyone? Love my 550, but what a racket by Garmin.) I figured instead that with GPS on the iPad (about $800 for the serviceable model) and perhaps a good waterproof case (which I'm sure will be forthcoming), that the iPad is going to obviate a bunch of GPS company products.
I'm really surprised that some of the smartphones haven't yet done this, or partnered more effectively with Garmin and the like. The iPhone itself could be an excellent form factor for a GPS if it were hardened or usable in a good case. I know that you can look at Google Maps on iPhone, but they're still not usable for turn-by-turn driving directions.

I already have this on the iPhone... From Navionics. It actually works quite well. I tested it head to head with a GPSMap378 on my buddy's sailboat out in the Bay. It was surprisingly accurate, and displayed all the same soundings and markers that his device did. Only problem was that it eats battery like a mofo when in the app.

Otherwise, I don't see much standing in the way of these taking over for a lot of "inbetweener" types.

By the way, I've tried numerous app for turn-by-turn directions, and they aren't reliable enough to use IMO. Which is weird, because I would say the chartplotter apps are ok (even GOOD), but the road navs are not. This is because on a boat you tend to have a little bit more time to determine your next maneuver, whereas on a bike or in a car, turn left in 300ft comes quick, and if the app crashed you can easily miss your turn.

Lastly, I don't really miss Flash. I too block it using a Firefox plugin. It mostly blocks stuff I didn't want anyway.

 

[johnny80s]

Pad/Tablet computing is the way of the future.