I’ve always heard people complain about Google Maps and talk about how it wasn’t really reliable to them. People have complained about getting lost due to the maps or having them take them to places they were not even planning to go to. For some, it made trips that could have been short, or longer due to the longer routes that it mapped out.
Well, in my opinion, if you’re going somewhere for the first time, your best bet would be Google Maps because all the times that I’ve used it, it never fails me. I always use it especially when I’m going somewhere for the first time, in an area I don’t know that well. Instead of asking around for directions, I follow the map. Asking for directions will always only be a last resort for me.
The last time I went to Computer Village in Ikeja, I was going to a part of the market that I didn’t know at all because I had never gone that far into it before. In all my previous trips, I was always dealing with the guys on the fringes of the market, never really exploring the place because if I’m being honest, I don’t know it all that well. However, this time, I had a particular shop in mind. I knew just where to go for what I wanted.
However, I had no idea how to get there. It’s just like going to a popular market for the first time and trying to find your way. If you’re not careful, you’ll get lost. But not with Google Maps. I decided to use the map instead of having the guy I was visiting come wait for me at the Main Road.
Thankfully, my guy’s shop was registered on the Map and that meant that I could take directions that would stop me directly in front of the shop. The map was going to take me straight to the doorstep. And that was what happened. With the map, I started my journey. There wasn’t much issue on the road until I got to Computer Village itself.
That place is like a labyrinth, with so many crisscrossing alleys. There are shops and buildings everywhere, everything looks similar, yet they are all very different. For first-timers, it’s so easy to get lost because you could get in at one turn and not know how to find your way back. For my map, I had to refresh it a number of times because it had to recalibrate.
However, like I said earlier, it didn’t fail me. The app even showed me major landmarks to look out for like banks and other major outlets there. Seeing those things let me know that indeed I was on the right track. I kept the journey up and eventually got to my destination. I managed to do that without asking anyone for help or asking my guy to come pick me up outside.
I’ve been using the maps for a while now when I go to places for the first time, and to date, it has not failed me. So, when I hear stories of people talking about how the map led them to the wrong address, I always wonder what the problem is. Is the map really faulty? Or did they input the wrong address? Well, I guess I would never really know.
All that matters is that when I do use the map, it takes me to where I need to be!
