[bjcy]

While your point is certainly valid, the parent's experience lines up with mine. There is a disconnect for rideshare/delivery drivers even between getting instructions from Google Maps vs. me reading out instructions straight from Google Maps. If I say exactly what Google Maps, then we're able to get to where I need to go.

I will say that it is changing, though. For younger rideshare drivers, there is a greater reliance on and ability to use Google Maps. In my experience, it is older drivers that have an interesting time adapting. This makes me think that there is certainly some ostensibly unrelated cultural norms at play: for example, Thailand exhibits a high degree of social hierarchy dependent on age, and a priority on saving face. Totally ignoring Google Maps, if I know the best way to get somewhere in Bangkok, and I know that most taxi drivers don't, me communicating it in Thai as respectful as is culturally appropriate can and does get shut down or ignored. In these instances, we invariably get lost and/or stuck in traffic.

Is a dislike for Google Maps in navigation completely a function of cultural values? Probably not, but this kind of technology isn't thought to be by default an amazing convenience in many parts of the world.

[jannyfer]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.