Lots of people talk about GPS but don’t ever really stop to think what it is all about. What we’ve learned through our education is that GPS stands for Global Positioning system and it was originally intended for sole use by the United States’ military.
You see, back in the 1970’s and 1980’s the U.S. launched satellites into geosynchronous orbits around the Earth. The communications satellites are positioned in such a way as to see the entire planet’s surface. From their position high above the Earth, they can communicate with any GPS device on the surface.
The U.S. military used (and still uses) it to navigate its land, air and sea units around some of the worst weather and terrain on the planet. Navigation was finally no longer relegated to relying on outdated maps. Instead, the military gained access to real time geographical data so they could quickly pinpoint their location.
Once the 1990’s rolled around, the commercial applications became obvious. So the United States government released some of the bandwidth for communications companies. Overnight, the automobile GPS companies and cell phone GPS companies sprang up to fill the gap.
And as with most technologies, the use of GPS has spread like wildfire across the globe and has inserted itself deep within our culture. Within 10 years, GPS went from a little known military application to a household word.
Because of its ease of use and its applicability to a wide range of environments and uses, you can now see people with GPS in their cars, in their earpieces, on their cell phones, in their watches or even inside any articles of clothing they may have.
If you are new the term GPS, stick around and we will help educate you on what GPS is all about and the different ways you can use it.
Tags: GPS, where gps came from