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Posted by Mike Lane on June 30, 2009, 3:57 am


Mike Barnes wrote on Jun 29, 2009:

> In uk.rec.gps, Mike Lane wrote:
>> Jeremy Parker wrote on Jun 28, 2009:
>>
>>> 5 My satnav doesn't know the names of intersections. It just says,
>>> "in 200 yards (or whatever) turn left", with a second warning at the
>>> intersection. That works well enough, but names might be better...
>>
>> I think I must be alone in disliking this feature (TTS - text to speech as
>> Garmin calls it). My StreetPilot has this and will announce "Turn left onto
>> Marlborough Street" or whatever. To me this is very rarely any help at all,
>> since (as you will know) street names are usually not prominently displayed
>> in Europe. It seems to me the only people who are likely to know all the
>> street names in an area are the postman and locals who live there - neither
>> of whom are likely to be using a satnav.
>
> I quite like TTS so I can't disagree with your opinion that you might be
> alone. Street signs are pretty easy to see most of the time in my
> experience.
>
I don't know where you live but where I come from road signs always refer to
road numbers (A30, B304 etc.), rather than names. It's only in residential
urban areas that road names are displayed at all and then they are designed
to be read by pedestrians rather than motorists (i.e. they are placed low
down on the side of the road and hence are often only visible as you actually
pass them). As I said that's fine for the postman or if you actually live
there, but not if you are driving through.

>> Also if you go abroad, the English satnav voices make such a horrible mess
>> of
>> pronouncing foreign names that I find it an embarrassment to hear them
>> spoken
>> at all. ('Rue des Victoires' will come out as Roo Dez Victoyerez etc)
>
> Better to switch the announcements to the language of the country you're
> in, if the satnav has that feature. Translating the directions I hear is
> fun and educational.

That might be OK if you're an accomplished linguist, but while I might just
about manage in French, my German and Italian are distinctly flakey, and my
Greek and Spanish virtually non-existent I'm ashamed to say

--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire


Posted by Mike Barnes on June 30, 2009, 7:47 am


In uk.rec.gps, Mike Lane wrote:
>Mike Barnes wrote on Jun 29, 2009:
>> In uk.rec.gps, Mike Lane wrote:
>>> Jeremy Parker wrote on Jun 28, 2009:
>>>> 5 My satnav doesn't know the names of intersections. It just says,
>>>> "in 200 yards (or whatever) turn left", with a second warning at the
>>>> intersection. That works well enough, but names might be better...
>>> I think I must be alone in disliking this feature (TTS - text to speech as
>>> Garmin calls it). My StreetPilot has this and will announce "Turn left onto
>>> Marlborough Street" or whatever. To me this is very rarely any help at all,
>>> since (as you will know) street names are usually not prominently displayed
>>> in Europe. It seems to me the only people who are likely to know all the
>>> street names in an area are the postman and locals who live there - neither
>>> of whom are likely to be using a satnav.
>> I quite like TTS so I can't disagree with your opinion that you might be
>> alone. Street signs are pretty easy to see most of the time in my
>> experience.
>I don't know where you live but where I come from road signs always refer to
>road numbers (A30, B304 etc.), rather than names. It's only in residential
>urban areas that road names are displayed at all and then they are designed
>to be read by pedestrians rather than motorists (i.e. they are placed low
>down on the side of the road and hence are often only visible as you actually
>pass them). As I said that's fine for the postman or if you actually live
>there, but not if you are driving through.

It's simply not true that road name signs are only in residential urban
areas. And even when they are, if the road's not busy, I usually find
them easy to read. Not always, of course, but usually.

>>> Also if you go abroad, the English satnav voices make such a horrible mess
>>> of
>>> pronouncing foreign names that I find it an embarrassment to hear them
>>> spoken
>>> at all. ('Rue des Victoires' will come out as Roo Dez Victoyerez etc)
>> Better to switch the announcements to the language of the country you're
>> in, if the satnav has that feature. Translating the directions I hear is
>> fun and educational.
>That might be OK if you're an accomplished linguist, but while I might just
>about manage in French, my German and Italian are distinctly flakey, and my
>Greek and Spanish virtually non-existent I'm ashamed to say

Consider it an opportunity for improvement. Correlate what you hear with
what you see.

--
Mike Barnes

Posted by Mike Lane on June 30, 2009, 1:46 pm


Mike Barnes wrote on Jun 30, 2009:

>> That might be OK if you're an accomplished linguist, but while I might just
>> about manage in French, my German and Italian are distinctly flakey, and my
>> Greek and Spanish virtually non-existent I'm ashamed to say
>
> Consider it an opportunity for improvement. Correlate what you hear with
> what you see.

Thank you so much for your advice. I will bear it in mind

--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire


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