Nagging
Posted: Thu 29 March, 2007 Filed under: Customer Services, Cynicism, Technology 3 Comments »While I have to admit that in general we’re both pretty pleased with the TomTom satnav unit I bought earlier in the year, there is one thing that I wish I could change.
TomTom operates in what I refer to as “Goldfish Mode”. Much the same as the voiceovers in Masterchef (Sorry, Masterchef goes Large, god help us all) and Dragon’s Den, TomTom assumes you have- at best- a memory span of thirty seconds. Which means you get instructions like
“In 500 yards, turn right at the roundabout, first exit.“
You get to about 100 yards from the roundabout.
“Turn right at the roundabout, first exit“
You get to the roundabout, and start to go round it
“Take the exit“
It drives me insane, and a lot of the time I find that it’s actually distracting, because you start to wonder if you’ve missed something relevant.
All I want is an option on the menu that says “Just notify me of the directions ONCE” that I can tick, and not be treated like I’m a bloody idiot. I know, lowest common denominator and all that bollocks, but jesus, just once, can’t something also have options that aren’t for that low-end user?
A friend of mine’s Satnav unit has a tendency to have a 200 yard delay – which is even more fucking annoying, particularly if a) you miss a turning due to its inaccuracy, or b) it tells you to take a turning well after you’ve taken it.
What TomTom unit do you have? I have used both the ONE and the GO 910 and both have treated me really well. I really love the ONE…It’s so small and easy to transport. The TomToms have definitely turned me into a GPS convert.
I’m using the 710 unit – didn’t need the extra guff that came with the 910, so we went with the 710 instead.