History

The future of car navigation as it looked in 1971

From Tomorrow’s World, a long-running BBC show that showcased scientific and technological developments in prime time, making them easy to understand without dumbing down:

The idea of only being able to select pre-programmed routes may appear hilariously limited to our modern eyes. But it’s an approach that worked well for decades, such as with the AA’s holiday travel books which gave detailed written driving instructions for a limited number of routes overseas. By pick’n’mixing sections of different intersecting routes, you could end up with useful and effective instructions to get you most of the way to a huge range of places.

You might also enjoy The future of newspapers as it looked in 1994.

 

4 responses to “The future of car navigation as it looked in 1971”

  1. Mark
    Good evening, do you know the name of the company that developed this navigation system?
    I ask because my son~in-law has just sent your link from California because he works in this sector
    Thanks Phil Taylor

  2. We used the marvellous AA travel books for some of our European journeys in the 80s. They were unfailingly accurate and always highlighted the shortest reliable route. Having recently attempted a short detour on a London to Eastbourne trip with a help of our sat-nav that took us all over the place then some, it is hard not to feel nostalgic for simpler efficiencies of the past.

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