As BlackBerrys and the new iPhone that hits stores on July 11 become GPS-enabled, the world will see a drastic leap in hand-held technology, as well. Will GPS make people dumber? How about new jokes about Paris Hilton? Some people claim GPS technology will make it easier for 40 percent of Americans to find the ocean. Evidently they cannot find it now. On the other hand those who claim spell-checking created a generation of poeple that cannot spell are forecasting the worst for GPS.

For those who do not know that the sun sets in the West (and rises in the East) there is room for discovery. I doubt that it would be the quality of discovery that would be defended in a doctoral thesis, but a discovery none the less. If everyone has GPS on their phones then some, like Paris Hilton, will probably lose any last remaining sense of direction. And to add insult to injury, if the GPS cannot give a location – like a place to buy children in a third-world nation – these folks will be lost – and mad too.