Gadget of the Week - Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS
Francis Turner
February 3rd, 2007
While it may not be state of the art, it is an interesting demonstration of how far things have moved ahead in the last decade or so. 10 years ago the possibility of minimizing a GPS receiver such that it could sit on a wrist was next to impossible and, if it could be done, the battery life would probably not have been more than a couple of hours and the GPS-derived distances etc. been accurate to something like 10% plus or minus. I can’t say that this is perfectly accurate - at rest you can see the reported current altitude vary by 10m - but in a month of running on similar routes I have noted that it is at least consistent in reporting total distances, even if some of its instantaneous calculations (such as pace or altitude) seem to vary a bit.
This kind of gadget is precisely the sort of thing that Moore’s law helps consumer electronics vendors sell more stuff. Currently it retails for $200 or less, roughly the price of a couple of pairs of good running shoes, next year versions will probably cost $100 and so on which means that what was, a couple of years ago, the sort of thing that only the really dedicated runner bought can now be owned by even the most casual jogger curious to find out how fast or far he runs.