These days GPS is finding its way into cars, boats, planes, construction equipment, movie making gear, farm machinery, even laptop computers. It works by using satellites as reference points to calculate a position somewhere on the earth - a position accurate to a matter of meters. In fact, with advanced forms of GPS you can make measurements to better than a centimeter! We have begun to give every square meter on the planet a unique address. GPS receivers are being made smaller and more affordable - making the technology accessible to virtually everyone. It's becoming standard equipment in the field of archeology/anthropology, geology studies, is used for entertainment purposes (such as treasure hunts) - it just may become a universal utility. Most GPS receivers have the ability to store attribute information in addition to position information in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Examples of attribute information are the condition of a street sign, the nam

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But with all of its advantages and contributions I think that the GPS can encourage a lack of self-reliance and an ever-increasing trend towards human reliance on technology. (Just look at the Y2K scare - that shows how much we have come to rely on our computers for everyday activities). If someone is lost out in the wilderness and for some reason his GPS is not functioning - which is all too common - he is lost. GPS signals can be obscured or confused by many objects, delayed by atmospheric conditions and radio waves, yet companies that sell the GPS are encouraging this complete reliance: "Throw away your paper maps. The CoPilot 2000 keeps track of your location and shows you the fastest route to where you want to go." (Ziff Davis Smart Business for the New Economy, Sept 1, 2000) For me this is an indication of our all too integral reliance and confidence in technology. By using the GPS you are relying on other people, on politics. The government has control of what you know, how much you know, of your location. The public was officially told that the US military "will jam the global positioning system in any future conflict, to prevent hostile use of the satellite-based navigation system" - allowing the civil signal to be jammed without blocking the military code. They have complete control of the system; they have already tracked criminals and individuals on parole with it. Could the government eventually use it to track every individual? They have complete control of every aspect of this system, are able to "jam" it at any time, making GPS somewhat unreliable or unintegratable for the user. If we become too reliant on it, it will become just one more thing that we would be at their mercy for. There are already applications that are out there to "track your friends" The government controls the system's a

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Approximate Word count = 1269
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)