[smart]Phone and Directions

I finally gave in and got a smartphone about a year ago. I don't love it, but it is useful when I want to check my email without trotting all the way up to the attic and waking up my computer. I use it to check my favorite blogs, news, and covid updates. It is also pretty good for sending and receiving texts. It's nice to be able to send and receive photos!

At the moment, I don't have a data plan, just connection to wi-fi. Because I work from home and I rarely go anywhere, this is totally sufficient. 

I use whatsapp - kids like it for video-calls with their cousins and I love getting photos and updates from family in other countries. 

I started using google maps for directions (I download maps I need ahead of time). Generally, I prefer to look up directions using my computer and then write them all down. It's easier to make adjustments (because sometimes, google-preferred route is not optimal). I am not a huge fan of google telling me where to go and which way to turn... twice now it took me on these weird drives through residential neighborhoods for no particular reason... Something is weird with the algorithms there - perhaps I need to look into my settings.

I feel weird being bossed around by my phone and trusting that it'll take me where I need to go... What if google doesn't like me and takes me on the most round-about, traffic-congested roads? What if it decides to sabotage my trip? It is super annoying when I go a different way than google wants me to go (because it may be more scenic, or is more direct, or whatever), and the thing keeps trying to get me to turn around!!! There should be a hand-less "shut up" function - where you say "shut up and re-route" and the app re-calculates the directions based on current location.

This could be totally turned into a creepy sci-fi short story. 

Phone apps being selective and playing favorites, allowing some people to get to their destination on time while forcing others to be late. And people being too stupid to understand what's happening, because we are too busy listening to google map's "turn right NOW".