The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space based navigation system that was developed by the U.S. Department of Defence in 1973. With the help of three satellites in the outer orbit, by a method called triangulation, the electronic device detects its user’s location. During the early stages of development, the system was mainly used in the military to guide missiles and aircrafts, however, as time progressed, the tool became available for civilian use. Within a short period of time the system was widely available, and relatively affordable for the majority of public. GPS’s focal function is to make navigation simple, but it has also proven to have an unexpected influence on society.
The Global Positioning System attained its popularity through affordable prices, reliability and the overall interest of a new means of navigation. It is much easier to punch in the desired address and listen to the voice commands to get to your destination, than to use the conventional way of reading a map and compass.
Therefore, people are becoming excessively dependent on this new technology and their sense of orientation seems to be fading away. Is this Marxist’s fact a great progress leading to capitalist wealth through replacement of mental power by technology, or reliance on the navigation expert device causing us to doubt ourselves? Professor of history at California State University, Theodore Roszak, raised a concern that leaving decisions and mental work to technologies or experts leads to losing knowledge and becoming reliant on expertise. The GPS system certainly does rob people of positional awareness and orientation gut feeling. Once the device starts leading the way, most of users do not think which way they are going, as the expert “lady” will voice out subsequent steps. The reliance on this technology does not limit itself to individuals; it is widespread and directly affects various industries. Taxi cab, city bus and trucking companies are a few examples. GPS.
