Growing up in India, where the internet storm took a while to hit the middle class segment, I was fortunate to be technically proficient. My affinity towards Google Maps started 5 years back when I started my first job at a new city and I was required to visit schools on a daily visit. Now, as demanding as a sales job gets, very less handholding was involved. I was expected to find our client schools as well as new schools for prospecting and the language barrier in the new place did not seem to help. That’s when I first realised what a powerful tool Google Maps was.
Previously, I was fond of looking at the map, mostly in earth view to see terrain in other countries which I had always planned to visit. However, now, it had become more of a necessity and habit rather than a hobby. I was so impressed with the accuracy of locations in more than 80% of the cases, that I started adding new places where I knew I would have to return later. The manual labour of remembering tricky alley ways and ambiguous signs was behind me.
Adding new places and giving right reviews felt like a responsibility as I had been severely benefited from the maps. It also helped that I levelled up in those aspects which, being a gamer worked as an incentive.
Even after 5 years, I enjoy reviewing and adding places. It gives me a sense of responsibility and goodwill that my directions would help someone in need as they did to me 5 years back. Now my car is also equipped with the app and helps me navigate seamlessly.
Google maps is a wonderful tool. As Dumbledore once said, help will always be given to those who look for it.
Google maps is the place to go to in that case.