I am in love with my cell phone. Technically, it is a Samsung smart phone. Samsung Galaxy S Plus, this phone can be considered the entry level of highly priced segment of mobile phones.
Being a Galaxy, it runs on Android and gives me full access to Android Market (now called Google Play). Trust me; you can’t say that you did not find a certain application in that market. It has almost everything for everyone and on a 3G connection; it takes some 2 minutes to download an app.
One of the applications that I used regularly and comprehensively is Google Maps. I don’t think they need any kind of introduction. Living in Delhi for last 4 months and being not very knowledgeable about the roads in here, they have been a very big help for me. If you have a good GPS connection, this app could be real handy.
A new feature they have introduced is Navigation. Now, you just have to enter the start and end points and as you move, a lady’s voice will guide of various roads and landmarks you as you negotiate the turns and traffic of Delhi. She will intimate some 400 meters before when you have to turn so that you can change lanes. And if you have to change the desired route due to some blocks or dharnas (very common in Delhi), the app reroutes itself to tell you the alternate roads.
Why all this? This is not a review of Google Maps (although it is superb). It’s about the people who can make the staff at Google scratch their head when they appreciate the marvel they had created.
I belong to Uttarakhand and it is pretty much a hilly state. So as you go up towards the hills, the basic facilities keep on decreasing. In the same vein, the mobile signal strength lessens as you traverse up the serene of the hills which, thankfully, are yet to be commercialized.
So, we were up there going to a place in the hills and we did not have too much idea about the roads. On an intersection, we were stuck. I tried this Google Maps (Navigation was still not started that time) and it worked even with weak signal. We started with its help and higher up; we lost the connection and then encountered one more intersection.
Should I need you tell more? The lines I heard will force Google to hang their head in shame. What they thought was almost perfect was just termed a useless piece of code by my fellow travelers.
“Ask Google to come and guide us manually”
“They should have mobile towers of their own”
“Google should not make something this faulty. It would hamper their reputation.”
“Search in Google where we are.”
Every line was followed by a big laughter including mine. Luckily, they could not crack many as we unknowingly took the right turn. A ‘Wrong Turn’ at that time of the day in the hills with minimum of touch with the outside world could have been bad.
When we reached there, I decided against using Google Maps with these people even if I have to bear comments like “what is the use of having a phone worth this much grands with these many applications if you do not use it.” How do I make them understand that in our country, where 3G network is also launched city by city in span of some years and where we still celebrate iPhone 3 when its 5th edition has been launched worldwide, asking Google to become 100% accurate in those areas where light is also a luxury, is impossible. They don’t complain about iPhone because their Aunt in the States is getting them one this Christmas. Pity, she can’t get Google’e CEO to fix petty issues like Maps.
I don’t use these apps with them anymore. I prefer to keep it to myself and make things easy. And it has been 100% accurate 95% of the time.
Well. Some people never understand.
Tushar's Blog 