Out in Front: Enter the Fortune Teller

This column was a snap — I wish they all were — because you wrote it for me. A few months back, we invited you to comment on the magazine in a reader survey. The final question dealt neither with the magazine nor with your demographics, but read “Where is society going with GPS/GNSS use, and how will that change the GPS/GNSS industry?”

Many answers featured some variant of “GPS/GNSS is becoming ubiquitous/embedded/essential/a consumer utility/an industry commodity.” Some respondents speculated further. A few of the more interesting follow.

• Any moving product that does not incorporate a positioning solution will be a difficult sell.
• As more people become aware of it and use it daily, are there enough professionals with expertise and education out there?
• The industry should be looking at jamming/terrorist endeavors.
• The sky is the limit when it comes to how (and who) can use these reliable types of GPS and GIS data sets. Powerful data that is easy to use with an infinite shelf life . . . .
• Privacy issues will arise, but manufacturers and service providers will get rid of them by staffing appropriate legal offices.
• Civil world: Automated highways. Military world: Helping remove people from combat.
• People are not planning for downtime in GPS/GNSS services. The clever businesses/people will have some type of backup.
• The public treats GPS as a utility, but is not aware how fragile its existence is. The public needs to know that GNSS needs support, so that when money is required to retain the capability, it is not voted out through lack of knowledge.
• As ever, technologies replace the natural sense of direction, and natural senses are not needed anymore.
• The future of all travel and placement. The industry is just starting but will be the biggest information-based system in the world. Buy stock now.
• It is leading us to absolute dependence as the time progresses. The civil society may collapse if this infrastructure support is suddenly withdrawn.
• “Big brother is watching you” is becoming a reality now, with people being generally unaware of that.
• It will improve the well-being of the people and the problems of climate and warming affecting society. GPS/GNSS is the appropriate means to tackle this global problem.
• A few years ago I would not have thought we would have GPS on our cell phones, so I guess the sky is not the limit.
• The GPS industry will be less focused on scientific/geophysical/geodetic applications and more on transient trends.
• As location-based marketing proliferates, the world will have to come to grips that privacy is gone and anonymity is teetering for the sake of the sale.
• If the U.S. is to remain pre-eminent and maintain tactical advantage, GPS must be more nimble and adaptable.

There. I’ve used up all my space but not even one quarter of the interesting answers. See more at my Wide Awake blog.

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