[Spridgets] Off Thread, but need mens advice.....GPS?

[David Lieb]

I believe the Garmin maps were free at the time when the internal memory was 
not sufficient to hold the whole country. Since you would have to constantly 
download sections of the country appropriate for the next trip, free maps 
were critical. Now that the devices come with all of the USA plus Canada, 
Timbuktu, and East Bufu loaded, new maps are a luxury and can be charged 
for. Bear in mind that this is also true for the points of interest... I 
would have thought that a good marketing person could have gotten businesses 
to underwrite the costs of the updates, but it hasn't happened yet.
David Lieb