Sat nav most significant motoring moment of the noughties
As the first decade of the new millennium comes to an end, Carsite.co.uk has named the introduction of the mass-market ‘sat nav’ as the most significant motoring moment of the 21st century.
To celebrate the first decade of the ‘noughties’, Carsite, an online used car retailer, charted ten significant moments from the last ten years of motoring history. Included in the list is the retro revolution sparked by new MINI in 2001; Norman Foster’s stunning Millau Viaduct in France finished in 2004; and the digital boom in private online car selling led by eBay Motors.
However it was the introduction of the accurate automotive ‘sat nav’ unit in 2000 that Carsite considers the most significant development to motoring in the last decade, revolutionising the way drivers navigate road networks.
On May 1st 2000, the United States government stopped the intentional degradation or ‘Selective Availability’ of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals available to the public. Civilian users of GPS were suddenly able to pinpoint locations up to ten times more accurately than before.
At the same time, the first accurate and affordable – though still expensive – satellite-guided navigation units for cars were brought to market. Whilst early models from TomTom & Garmin retailed for hundreds of pounds, and occasionally sent drivers into fields or off cliff edges, the Sat Nav unit became a global success and is now one of the ‘must have’ driving gadgets.
Apart from the safety benefits of not having to drive with a ‘map on the lap’, modern satellite navigation units are now available with live traffic alerts, video and music playback, celebrity voices and even 3D rendering of landmark buildings.
Ten years on and the Sat Nav market is still evolving and looks set for a major change with internet mogul, Google, expected to introduce free satellite navigation software to the mobile market. The October announcement of Google Maps Navigation caused shares in both Garmin and TomTom to fall substantially.
Carsite’s Alistair Jeff said, ‘Despite occasionally hearing of Sat Nav devices sending drivers in completely the wrong direction, in most cases they’re entirely accurate and a fantastic gadget that has totally changed the way we get around. You realise how significant an invention is when you can’t imagine making a complicated journey without one.’
