[OSM-talk] US to spend $8bn upgrading GPS constellation

[Maarten Deen]

On Wed, 26 May 2010 20:53:38 +1000, John Smith <deltafoxtrot256 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> The United States is about to give the now nearly ubiquitous Global
> Positioning System an $8 billion overhaul. The improvements, which
> involve replacing each of the 24 aging GPS satellites, are estimated
> to take over a decade to complete, and will see the triangulation
> margin of error decrease from 20 feet to around 3 feet. The move comes
> as more and more devices, from phones to parking meters, are
> incorporating GPS units into their design. The L.A. Times estimates
> that there are over 1 billion GPS receivers that rely on the United
> State’s. location system.
> 
>
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gps-20100523,0,3054578.story?page=1

>From the article:
> Without it, ATMs would stop spitting out cash, Wall Street could blunder
> billions of dollars in stock trades and clueless drivers would get lost.

Can someone explain to me why an ATM would need a GPS in order to dispense
cash? Or why Wall Street needs it to trade? These things are stationary.
Ok, maybe stock traders can use it to see where shipments of the companies
the trade in are, but that seems pretty far fetched. Still, ATMs?

Oh, and so good to hear that we are wast^H^H^H^Hspending € 3,4b (and more)
on Galileo while GPS gets an upgrade to do exactly the same thing. Just
repeat after me: there is no crisis, there is no crisis, there is no
crisis.

Maarten