This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NAVTEQ. All opinions are 100% mine.
I have a confession. I'm not very good at finding my way around. If I've driven there before, I might be able to find my way again. Maybe. I know my left from my right, but don't try to confuse me with directions like North, South, East, or West - I know their names, but I don't know which direction they are, except for at sunset. Even I know the sun sets in the West.
I could really use one of these NAVTEQ in-dash navigation systems, so when I get in the car I've got help finding my way around. You don't even need to know the address. Well, you do if you're trying to find someone's house, but if you're trying to find a Point of Interest (stores, gas stations, banks, restaurants, etc.) you can just search for whatever you're looking for, and the navigation system tells you where to go. For instance, we were visiting family over the Thanksgiving holiday, and we actually went out shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Yeah, I know, something I said I'd never do. We did not get up super early, though.
Anyway, we had the phone book in the van to help in finding some of the stores we were looking for, but it would have been so much easier to just plug them into the navigation system and have it tell us where the closest store was. Of course, for safety's sake, someone other than the driver should be the one to look the stores up in the navigation system, the same as with the phone book. Also, the same way that a new phone book comes out every year, the navigation system needs a map update on a regular basis. So, just in case a store closes or moves, you don't end up at an empty building. Or, if roads close or new ones go in, you can know about those, too. It even looks like NAVTEQ can let you know about road construction and help you avoid it. Wouldn't that be nice?
So, if you've got one of these handy in-dash navigation systems, and since NAVTEQ is the company whose technology and maps drive most of the in-car navigation systems, chances are yours is one of them, be sure to get the latest map update to make your travels a little easier. And try not to laugh at the rest of us who are using the phone book or just plain getting lost.
