Stop bugging me, TomTom
by Volker Weber
jumbotron:~ vowe$ ps -eax | grep TomTom
6532 ?? 4:41.70 /Applications/MyTomTomSA.app/Contents/MacOS/MyTomTomSA
jumbotron:~ vowe$ kill -9 6532
jumbotron:~ vowe$
TomTom, we need to talk. If I have one of your PNDs that does not mean I want to be running your software all the time. If I say "quit", go away. Do not return until I call you. It's a very, very stupid idea to keep popping up on my computer. I also don't want to be bugged by dialogs while I am driving. Stop giving me hints, stop asking me questions. I am busy driving my car. Don't tell me you have problems accessing live services. Go and fix them yourself. I don't need to know all this. Do your work, and get the hell out of the way. If you need to fix yourself, don't bother me on my computer. You have an Internet connection yourself. Use it. And leave me alone.
And while we are at it. Why do I have to tell you to get traffic information for my way from home to work, or on my way home from work? You know what I am doing. It's a predictable pattern. And frankly, I don't need turn-by-turn instructions on my way to work. I probably know the way better than you do. Just get me the traffic data and tell me what's different today.
Nokia Maps used to be annoying. Nokia fixed it. Now it's your turn.
Comments
Great suggestions.
I used to rant about why TomTom couldn't recognize that I was on a motorway in a stop-and-go pattern (i.e. average speed over 10 mins less than 40 Km/h or similar) and then automatically suggest a different route instead of me having to manually select "find different route".
I do 50000 km a year - there's a reason why I tried and returned 4 TomTom LIVE devices last year.
It starts when you try to register/update the device - as a returning customer who already had a previous TomTom you have to prove them you were stupid enough to buy another one by doing a screenshot of the software version and device ID _and_ sending in a scanned copy of the receipt. All this through their incredibly user friendly support page.
Should you succeed they have the guts to send you a dumb questionnaire asking you how you liked the experience. A pity you'd have to print it put to rip it to shreds....
It's then you find out that their new ingenious DRM scheme won't let you transfer any of your previously bought (you know, with real money) voices or other contents, because their software is not really ready yet, and they haven't decided if they'll let you do that. Ever. (Volker - wouldn't that justify a "Repeat after me: DRM is bad for the customer" on your side?).
You then put it in your car, and for as long as it works, it's really good. Especially HD traffic.
Google search sucks because it requires you to select a city first (WTF - why not enter it as part of the search string??)
My last one (TomTom GO LIVE 1000) went back to the dealer because it insisted on doing a reset every 20 minutes (!) on one of my longer trips (on top of the random resets I had already nearly gooten used to), which made me invent new swear words.
Listen, TomTom: I don't care that you have the most innovative GPS device if it doesn't do its primary function, which is navigating while I'm driving. If your backend software is borked. no reset on my device will fix it. In fact I can't think of any reason why the device should go through a reset and leave me driving blind for 10 minutes _ever_! Just go on and fix it in the background.
Oh, my parents have also had their issues with their expensive GPS. It keeps on telling them to connect it to the PC because something might be outdated, which is a real hassle for them (read: for me). Somebody should remind TomTom there is a GSM data connection built in...
Garmin for me right now until someone manages to convince me TomTom gets their act together.
