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

[Iván Sánchez Ortega]

El 26/05/2010 13:41, Maarten Deen escribió:
> 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?

Time sync. GPS is actually one of the most precise clocks out there. The 
whole thing works on the basis of a linear equation that tries to 
minimise the error on four dimensions: x, y, z, and time.

Banking stuff may act erratically if the clocks start to drift apart. 
i.e. operations not completing successfully due to time locks.

> 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.

Politics. EU wants to achieve technological independence from 
US-specific tech. The same goes with the russian GLONASS (or ГЛОНАСС) 
and the chinese Compass.

> Just repeat after me: there is no crisis, there is no crisis, there is no
> crisis.

Repeat with me: money is just trust, money is just trust, money is just 
trust.

-- 
Iván Sánchez Ortega <ivan at sanchezortega.es>