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How Etak Built a Car Navigation System In 1985

Posted by timothy on from the this-way-to-the-time-machine dept.

harrymcc writes: Thirty years ago, a startup called Etak released the Navigator, an in-car navigation system. It provided turn-by-turn driving directions despite the fact that GPS did not exist, and stored its maps--which Etak had to create itself--on cassette tapes. And some of its data and technologies are still in use in today's navigation apps. Over at Fast Company, Benj Edwards tells this amazing story. I remember reading about (and lusting over) this system back then, in the much-missed DAK catalog.

2 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. Etak, then the yellow line! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The folks who did the Etak stuff ended up doing the First Down line, amongst other things.
    I had the pleasure of working with them. First rate people!

  2. Back in my day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    we used our Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator: http://gizmodo.com/388005/wristlet-route-indicator-1927s-answer-to-gps and liked it that way.