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Columnist marvels at little GPS unit that now gets him hither and yon Date published: 3/21/2010 By Rob Hedelt
WHEN I was 12, That doesn't sound like a big deal now, but back then, the thick, heavy gizmo with open tape reels and a microphone the size of a bluebird was just shy of "Mission Impossible" gadgetry. I did just about everything possible with that green G.E. unit, from recording my sister's conversations with friends to scaring grandparents who didn't know it wasn't me talking under the couch but a tape I'd recorded in the privacy of my closet. It wasn't really a practical piece of electronics, both too large and too heavy to take much farther than the kitchen table. But to my young mind, which thought there was nothing cooler than James Bond or "The Man From Uncle," owning the only one on the street made me feel cooler than cool. As I drove to an assignment this week with a flat box the size of my hand telling me which turns to make--in a British accent, no less--it hit me how far technology has leapt. This after I'd gone to the Internet to read about the house I was going to visit, clicked one button to get turn-by-turn directions and another to see what the weather would be like when I got there. I clicked again to double-check my bank balance to make sure there was cash in place to get lunch when the interview was done. It was all so much easier than wrestling a paper map, staring at a barometer or pulling out my checkbook and a calculator. The GPS unit that I have set to sound like Miss Moneypenny is the latest gadget for me, coming long after many have been Yes, it gets annoying after a while to have this brassy voice coming out But to watch the little blue car on the screen move by every road that
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