How things change in a mere 20 years .. Blasts from the past

Here's a link I couldn't resist:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000430055334
Scroll down and look at the TI-4100 GPS receiver. Believe it or not, I was using ones like this in 1985, even though the GPS had only one or two birds in continual operation. My job included keeping a highly classified "Doomsday" radio system on line. Because the receivers had to be autonomous in case of a nation-wide disaster, they had to keep time to very precise standards. If the time got off, the only way to reset it was to carry the radio to one of the master stations to re-synchronize it .. or have a special timing timing technician fly to your location with an atomic clock on the seat beside him .. wow, what the TSA have to say about that LoL. The only way, that is unless you had the magic of GPS. In seconds after the satellite came over, the receiver was synced up and on-line.

So even 20 years ago, GPS was saving time and money for government and civilian agencies. truly a wonder of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Enjoy the rest of the Engadget page above, see what Nokia cell phones used to look like. My current Nokia weighs 11 grams, the 1985 model weighed 11 pounds.