Now, it turns out that I have loved the camera included in this phone, and I take pictures with it that I can send directly to Flickr--and when their communication with Blogger is working correctly, can even post directly to my private blog as a kind of family journal. That has been a LOT of fun.
What I didn't realize, though, was that my phone also has a built-in GPS device, and for a relatively modest fee ($9.95/month), includes a "navigation" program. While helping to coordinate our first Moodle workshop in Plano, Texas, I found out how absolutely life-changing this feature is. Because I was in an unfamiliar town, I decided to shoot for one month's fee to test it out. From the car rental parking lot, I plugged in the address of the motel: it spoke step by step directions to me during the drive. The next day, I plugged in the address for the Sockwell Center at Plano ISD, and it took me there. Then, using another feature of the phone I love (web browsing), I found the address of a local church to attend, and it took me there. I then decided to do a little sightseeing by car, and picked out a local landmark, and it took me there. Then back to the motel. The next day, I wanted to get food for the workshop before it began. I drove to the Sockwell center, then had it give me the ten closest grocery stores--a Super Walmart was close. Since it was early, and I didn't know if they would be open, I clicked "send" and it called that Walmart. Yes, they were open. Take me there, I instructed my phone. Show me on the map. Incredible.
The whole trip, whenever I would normally have pulled out a phone book to find something (shopping, food, movies), I just opened this incredible little device. I felt like, in just a few days, I had been transported to the future. All of the time normally spent in a new area getting maps, figuring out directions, and preparing in advance, were done away with. I literally saved hours, and accomplished things I might not even have considered without this technology.
Amazing.
What a wonderful story about the pace of change and how access to technology, and a little bit of tech know-how, completely altered your trip - for the better.
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