Quote:
Originally Posted by robchalmers
I think there would be riots if the tracking system was evr implemented. there is just too much big-brother sh*t going on at the mo. ID cards, cctv everywhere you turn national card usage tracking. It has to end somewhere!
|
From the government's track record, I would so not be surprised if they did it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw
On the other hand, today's GPS units are still inaccurate: Imagine you are on a dirt road going parallel to a highway. The device may think you are within the position tolerance of the more expensive road and charge you for that. Also, you can hide in a tunnel, underground parking, etc.
|
You're quite right, but GPS can be surprisingly accurate - when they work. I mean, when I'm on the motorway and leave the motorway early, my 4 year old car GPS realises I'm off the motorway only 5 metres away from the road itself. Newer car GPS has better chips with clever stuff such as WAAS, DGPS etc. I also use a walking GPS to track my walks/rides and they follow OS map paths almost exactly - apart from when I'm walking under trees where accuracy goes out of the window. My hiking GPS has WAAS so accuracy is quite often 0.5m - 1m (indicated on the unit itself), however sometimes 15-20m under trees.
You're quite right re: inaccuracy, underground parking, tin-foil around aerial, etc. On the other hand, remember that high end car GPS has 3 gyroscopes so the navigation works perfect no matter what reception is there and never makes a mistake on which road the car is. I have only seen one of these in action years ago when my manager needed to take me somewhere - he had one of these GPS and gyroscope navigation system and the arrow on screen was *exactly* realtime - including when driving backwards, the system knew that, also works perfect in tunnels whereas my cheap in-car GPS thinks I'm going forwards when I'm driving backwards and lags behind slightly especially when going around bends and is lost in tunnels, however it "guesses" my position based on my last known speed. Then again, I highly doubt governments would use the gyroscope system to complement GPS as it'd be bloody expensive. But then again mass production would drive down the cost.
On the other hand, there are some awesome possibilities that *could* come out of this tracking system if done *properly*[1]. Far, far better traffic management - traffic planners will know exactly how many cars are at various roads/junctions at what time and any recurring problems so they can improve the system. Cars can communicate with each other about traffic updates. Traffic lights could talk to cars and know which light to switch for the most efficient configuration for the position/speeds of cars approaching the junction.
[1]Knowing UK's government's *appalling* track record for IT projects, this is incredibly unlikely.