I have to wonder if Google is too big in these situations and there’s no one there to actually take these calls. It’s not the first time I’ve been unable to resolve issues with Google services due to no real human being in charge to deal with the situation on their end.
I often rely on Google Maps for all navigation even in remote areas. It’s been great mosty even offroading. I’m extra cautious when driving via Google in these areas but it’s not always been good as there’s been a few times I’ve been hmm this is not the road google thinks this is or others have put up physical signs saying your GPS is wrong, this is not the way to such and such place. I’ve seen this more than once. I’m glad for the signs as in some cases these roads have been washed out or no longer connect to anything saving me hours of hassle. Too be fair I’ve had Garmin GPS take me on roads too that aren’t roads anymore when I first bought a GPS.
Then there are the times like that older couple a few years ago that died going up and over a mountain in Oregon during the winter and became stuck because their GPS said it was the quicker route to a main area. The man tried to hike out after a few days of waiting but he didn’t make it. I think eventually some hunters much later on came across them.
I recall Apple maps not being great when they first broke away from Google and it was bad initially. People driving off non existent exits. Thankfully I’ve read that they have become just as good as Google or even better now. I also use All Trails for hiking but it too can show old trails no longer in use. This issue has shown up in old offroad map books too.
After seeing one too many lost hiker stories I did buy a InReach Mini 2 with a SOS feature. I hope I never needed it but if I do I hope it won’t take 20+ years to find my body like a hiker I read about in Joshua Tree Park. They think he sprained his ankle on a summer hike and there’s hardly any cell signal in the area. He was an experienced hiker and search teams couldn’t find him for years at it was pretty vast in there and the couple of pings his old school cellphone did give off couldn’t be triangulated to a small enough area to find him.
Anyways not sure what they do or how they correct for stale data in lightly populated areas especially when it comes to tourists. I think it might take government intervention to get Google to move the needle on some of these things. I think it’s important as many no longer know how to read a map and without a GPS program they don’t know how to navigate because they never had to growing up like older generations. Then there are that couldn’t even read maps that gps allows them to get around. They trust the GPS without fail.
I had an issue with Gmail the other week and I couldn’t even find any method to contact anyone at Google. It was just a constant cycle of FAQ lists, self-help forum posts, and technical websites. Couldn’t find a single phone number email, call-back form submission, or online chat. It was kind of infuriating since my issue wasn’t exactly a common one that would be answered in any of the methods available.
I have to wonder if Google is too big in these situations and there’s no one there to actually take these calls. It’s not the first time I’ve been unable to resolve issues with Google services due to no real human being in charge to deal with the situation on their end.
I often rely on Google Maps for all navigation even in remote areas. It’s been great mosty even offroading. I’m extra cautious when driving via Google in these areas but it’s not always been good as there’s been a few times I’ve been hmm this is not the road google thinks this is or others have put up physical signs saying your GPS is wrong, this is not the way to such and such place. I’ve seen this more than once. I’m glad for the signs as in some cases these roads have been washed out or no longer connect to anything saving me hours of hassle. Too be fair I’ve had Garmin GPS take me on roads too that aren’t roads anymore when I first bought a GPS.
Then there are the times like that older couple a few years ago that died going up and over a mountain in Oregon during the winter and became stuck because their GPS said it was the quicker route to a main area. The man tried to hike out after a few days of waiting but he didn’t make it. I think eventually some hunters much later on came across them.
I recall Apple maps not being great when they first broke away from Google and it was bad initially. People driving off non existent exits. Thankfully I’ve read that they have become just as good as Google or even better now. I also use All Trails for hiking but it too can show old trails no longer in use. This issue has shown up in old offroad map books too.
After seeing one too many lost hiker stories I did buy a InReach Mini 2 with a SOS feature. I hope I never needed it but if I do I hope it won’t take 20+ years to find my body like a hiker I read about in Joshua Tree Park. They think he sprained his ankle on a summer hike and there’s hardly any cell signal in the area. He was an experienced hiker and search teams couldn’t find him for years at it was pretty vast in there and the couple of pings his old school cellphone did give off couldn’t be triangulated to a small enough area to find him.
Anyways not sure what they do or how they correct for stale data in lightly populated areas especially when it comes to tourists. I think it might take government intervention to get Google to move the needle on some of these things. I think it’s important as many no longer know how to read a map and without a GPS program they don’t know how to navigate because they never had to growing up like older generations. Then there are that couldn’t even read maps that gps allows them to get around. They trust the GPS without fail.
I had an issue with Gmail the other week and I couldn’t even find any method to contact anyone at Google. It was just a constant cycle of FAQ lists, self-help forum posts, and technical websites. Couldn’t find a single phone number email, call-back form submission, or online chat. It was kind of infuriating since my issue wasn’t exactly a common one that would be answered in any of the methods available.