# "Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040 "2011-01-18T03:24:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/41 "2011-01-18T21:11:07Z")
> [@VernWinterbottom](#): > > PAPER MAPS To be clear, I disagree with paper maps being on the list. I know from the number of requests I get that many people still want them. Printed local maps often include information that cannot be found by using Google or a GPS. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/42 "2011-01-18T21:11:25Z")
Watches are also useful for running. Cell phones are still too bulky. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/43 "2011-01-18T21:15:20Z")
…and have no legs. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/44 "2011-01-18T21:17:25Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Yes, and if you’re reading this thread you’re not one of them. Come on. Come again? ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/45 "2011-01-18T21:19:17Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > **Encyclopedias:** I agree that paper encyclopedias are going away, but it makes me sad. I have a reputation as being a real know-it-all, someone how knows obscure trivia about all kinds of things. My secret? When I was a kid I would often take down a random volume of the World Book Encyclopedia (we owned a set at home) and read it. Not from cover to cover, but page by page, stopping whenever anything looked interesting. You can sort of do that with Wikipedia’s random page feature, but it’s not really the same. I used to do this too. Fond memories. I tend to do it with the Wikipedia as well, but by clicking on links in the articles that seem interesting. This kind of browsing keeps everything a lot closer to one topic than an alphabetical encyclopedia and I think that’s a loss, but I still get my info-fix. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/46 "2011-01-18T21:22:30Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Wikipedia is a free, user-edited encylopaedia. The things people typically think of as encyclopaedias are published _for profit._ That’s why the author distinguishes between books and encyclopaedias. Perhaps. I think that you make a good distinction, but the author says nothing about profit. Just big, heavy, out-of-date books. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/47 "2011-01-18T21:23:16Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I can’t afford a GPS yet, so I print out Mapquest and Google maps all the time. I don’t know what you consider affordable, but if you watch the deal sites you can pick up a decent major brand GPS for under $40 and that deal comes up at least twice a month. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/48 "2011-01-18T21:32:09Z")
If you have a smartphone you can just google directions on that. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/49 "2011-01-18T21:49:23Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I don’t know what you consider affordable, but if you watch the deal sites you can pick up a decent major brand GPS for under $40 and that deal comes up at least twice a month. Why spend money on a GPS unit when many (most?) smart phones now come with this feature? My Droid X came with Google Navigation, and didn’t cost me a dime. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/50 "2011-01-18T21:54:39Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Why spend money on a GPS unit when many (most?) smart phones now come with this feature? My Droid X came with Google Navigation, and didn’t cost me a dime. Because if you can’t afford a GPS you probably don’t have a smarphone? :dubious: I agree with you for sure, but the GPS feature on my iPhone is a battery killer, and having a dedicated GPS lets me yap on the phone or play music at the same time if need be, plus it’s mounted on my dash which is easier to see. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/51 "2011-01-18T21:58:26Z")
That sound the computer made when you were using dialup to get to your AOL account. _Shhheeeeeeee - crrrrrrrrk - beeeeboooo …_ ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/52 "2011-01-18T22:02:47Z")
Parking meters that take coins. They are becoming increasingly rare here in Washington, D.C. ---
**Author:** ![Severynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Severynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severynn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/53 "2011-01-18T22:21:37Z")
Funny, I came across this thread after watching this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdSHeKfZG7c](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdSHeKfZG7c) . It’s a cute video showing children’s reactions to older technology. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/54 "2011-01-18T23:08:37Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I don’t know what you consider affordable, but if you watch the deal sites you can pick up a decent major brand GPS for under $40 and that deal comes up at least twice a month. That is cheap. Compared to the over $200 I read that they cost a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/55 "2011-01-18T23:10:06Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > That is cheap. Compared to the over $200 I read that they cost a few years ago. I’ve been working in the navigation industry for over 16 years. When I first started, GPS systems were only for the very rich and cost about $3000. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/56 "2011-01-18T23:15:02Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Why spend money on a GPS unit when many (most?) smart phones now come with this feature? My Droid X came with Google Navigation, and didn’t cost me a dime. I’ve heard of these, but how does the phone know that you’re driving, what speed you’re going, and what directions you’re going? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/57 "2011-01-18T23:21:58Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I’ve heard of these, but how does the phone know that you’re driving, what speed you’re going, and what directions you’re going? Phones these days either have legitimate GPS receivers in them, in which case they know all those things because the receiver is constantly updating its position via the satellite above and the software handles things like distance/speed/direction (just like for a dedicated GPS), or they have triangulation systems which try to do roughly the same thing via triangulating your position based on signals bouncing off of cellphone towers. My understanding is most newer smartphones use dedicated GPS radios while older and cheaper phones use triangulation because it doesn’t require any additional hardware in the device itself. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/58 "2011-01-19T00:07:55Z")
Google maps can give you driving directions to a particular address and a GPS call tell you where you are and to get to a particular place. A printed map, though, can show you the locations of things your not specifically looking for, as well as showing you the geographical relationship between, say, the museum you’re visiting, groups of local shops and restaurants, the zoo and the beach. Paper maps do much more than get one from point A to point B. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/59 "2011-01-19T02:22:24Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’ve been working in the navigation industry for over 16 years. When I first started, GPS systems were only for the very rich and cost about $3000. And bear in mid we’re talking about children born this year. Most of them won’t have their own smartphones until at least 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/60 "2011-01-19T03:07:16Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Because if you can’t afford a GPS you probably don’t have a smarphone? :dubious: > > I agree with you for sure, but the GPS feature on my iPhone is a battery killer, and having a dedicated GPS lets me yap on the phone or play music at the same time if need be, plus it’s mounted on my dash which is easier to see. You can do all of those things simultaneously with an Android phone. Hell, mine is the \*original \*Android phone (currently running v. 1.6) and can do that. And Google Maps Navigation never needs updating and the GPS locator is more accurate than any standalone GPS I’ve seen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040.md?page=4)