I can recall the early days of car based sat nav systems, back in the 1990′s. Tiny screens built into the DIN sized slots of the then traditional car stereo opening, a rather stern voice with more in common with Stephen Hawking giving the guidance. The novelty of those systems soon wore off once you realised you’d been given the run around. Every car manufacturers system was different and enjoyed varying degrees of success. Some were truly woeful back then.
Then along came stand-alone systems that weren’t a three grand option on the car dealer’s price list, could be taken from the car, could be carried around with you and used for other things, such as on-foot navigation. Enter TomTom, with a system that really does work, is pocket sized and can be upgraded simply by plugging it into your computer’s USB. Last year, I enjoyed several days at the mercy of a TomTom system, tearing around Yorkshire and Northumberland in a Mercedes C Class, creating photography and footage for an online guide website. The intricacies of the twisting route hadn’t been fully understood by the person putting the route together and if it hadn’t been for a TomTom system running through an iPhone, we’d probably still be there now….
And this week, I see the announcement by TomTom that’s just what I need to dry out my UK based webbed feet. They’re running a competition that’s looking for a group of family or friends to head off to a desert island and create a series of navigable maps for the latest TomTom devices. A whole string of lovely, white sandy beaches, deep blue seas and desert islands await the winners. The latest one announced today is the archipelago of Cape Verde. Oh yes, and they’re offering to pay you 10,000 Euros for the in convenience of undertaking this arduous task…. And they reckon it’s going to take two weeks to cover it all. Sounds like hell.
This post has been sponsored by TomTom
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