Great Garmin Advertisement
Considering the fact that I have a jacket like the gentleman pictured and run a website on using GPS, my parents as well as a friend sent me the above ad from the May issue of Delta Air Line's onboard magazine, Sky.
I think this is an excellent advertisement -- very clever.
I think that it would be an excellent advertisement if I knew nothing about GPS or aviation. However, being an airline pilot and having familiarity with GPS, I find have a special appreciation for the ad. What I find amusing and ironic is that in many ways the Garmin GPS on the dashboard in the picture is more accurate than the navigation equipment in the majority of the airline fleet. Airliners did not start getting GPS until the the late 90's. The advertisement would have been more technically correct to say that "The technology guiding this plane may not be as accurate as what is available for your car." Considering all of the factors, I think the choice of wording in the ad is much more appropriate for publication.
I should add that the navigation equipment in the developed world's airline fleet is quite sufficient and there are many issues beyond enroute accuracy. It is not an indictment of the equipment on most airliners but a reflection of the marvel of GPS technology that something more accurate than the navigation equipment on the majority of airliners is available for the dash of your car at a fraction of the cost of airline navigation equipment.
Another reason that I find the picture amusing is that you could substitute the automobile for a cockpit and the GPS model pictured for one of Garmin's aviation models. Although common in many general aviation aircraft, a handheld GPS has been known to sit on top of instrument panels in some aircraft that you might not expect from military jets to "heavy iron."
This advertisement is Garmin copyrighted material posted without permission. However, I believe that this is posted within the context of fair use and is actually free advertisement. However, I will be happy to remove it upon request from the copyright holder. handheldgps@hotmail.com