Robespierre

To be licensed to drive a taxi in London, applicants must embed a virtual map of the city in their brains, and be able to instantly plot a route between any two points lying within Metropolitan London, defined as within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross. This wiki article describes the process: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge

My question is this: now that anybody with $200 can buy a GPS that will do the same thing, will <i>The Knowledge</i> be superseded, superannuated, and outdated by technology? Or will it be retained - yet another useless appendage of English culture, like the Ceremony of the Keys and the Royal Family?

Albany1624

Not if the applicants can't use GPS when they're tested.

alanRow

The $200 device won't replace The Knowledge - it won't for example instantly give you an alternative route when a road is blocked

Dukey

I thought the $200 gave you access to a satellite without which the GPS is useless. Even duct tape won't help!

ira

&gt;...will The Knowledge be superseded, superannuated, and outdated by technology? Or will it be retained - yet another useless appendage of English culture,...&lt;

Gee, Robe, why do I get the feeling that you have a dog in this fight?

What happens when the GPS doesn't work?

Ackislander

GPS leaves a lot to be desired, at least here in the US.

Cases in my experience:
1. Tampa: couldn't find restaurant, tho GPS showed we were there. We could even smell it. Guys smoking in doorway showed us it was hidden _behind_ the building with the listed address.

2. Boston area: routed from one suburb to another on a route where drugs are openly dealt and drive-by shootings happen every weekend

3. Brookline, MA: sent us by an elaborate route to put us directly in front of our restaurant. Problem? No parking there; all parking is on the other side of Beacon Street, so we had to drive up Beacon into Boston and make a U-turn against traffic.

This is precisely the kind of thing a human being with &quot;the Knowledge&quot; knows, and it is worth paying for, even if the GPS could be programed to call me &quot;Guv.&quot;

Robespierre

&quot;The $200 device won't replace The Knowledge - it won't for example instantly give you an alternative route when a road is blocked&quot; Mine will. Maybe you need to upgrade.

&quot;I thought the $200 gave you access to a satellite without which the GPS is useless.&quot; What?

&quot;What happens when the GPS doesn't work?&quot; The same thing that happens when the engine doesn't work - you get it fixed.

&quot;GPS leaves a lot to be desired, at least here in the US...This is precisely the kind of thing a human being with 'the Knowledge' knows...&quot; Any competently programmed navigation system could be equipped with <u>ALL</u> of <i>The Knowledge</i> - you must be thinking of an off-the-shelf system. I'm thinking of a purpose-built, dedicated application. It could probably be done in about the same time it takes for one person to learn the territory.

audere_est_facere

There's more to the Knowledge than just knowing the streets. You have to be th right kind of person (which apparently means you have to be a fat chelsea supporting know-all)

Robespierre

That function can be simulated trivially by a $5 microprocessor.

audere_est_facere

You don't know many fat chelsea fans do you robes? I think you're over-estimating.