震撼我们世界的 12 张地图事件：第 9 部分

Introduction: The Etak Navigator is a revolutionary vehicle navigation system launched in 1985. It was considered out-of-this-world at the time and changed how people get to where they need to be.
History and Context: In 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev were negotiating the end of the cold war, and Steven Spielberg released "Back to the Future". People used paper maps to navigate before the Etak Navigator.
Key Inventions:
- Augmented dead reckoning: Used a process to match the position given by navigation sensors to a topologically correct electronic map, resetting errors. This technique is still in use today.
- Heading up, moving map display: The vehicle remained at the center of the screen, and the map moved and turned under it, proving highly intuitive.
- Address search (geocoding): The first consumer device to introduce the concept of address search, allowing entry of destinations by address, street, or intersection.
System Details: Consisted of a vector CRT display, cassette tape for storing navigation app and data, an electronic compass, magnetic wheel sensors, and a metal box with the CPU and motherboard. It took 6 tapes to cover the San Francisco Bay Area, and the original price was $1,395 (equivalent to about $4,000 today), with an expensive installation cost.
Technical Hurdles: Faced challenges such as the absence of GPS, lack of large capacity interchangeable media, overcoming inertial navigation error, data storage and latency issues, dealing with heat, inclines, magnetic anomalies, and limited CPU resources.
The Team: Founded by Stan Honey, a world-renowned sailor and navigator. Key hires included Marv White, a map scientist and mathematician. Many original Etak hires went on to other mapping organizations.
What Happened to Etak: The Etak Navigator was about 20 years ahead of its time and proved difficult to build a sustainable business. It licensed the navigation code to automotive OEMs and was later acquired by News Corporation, then sold to SONY and Tele Atlas, and is now part of TomTom.
Name 'Etak': Derived from Polynesian navigation, where the vehicle is stationary and the maps move past it.
Universal Map Navigation Symbol: The symbol used by all navigation apps today was originally invented by Etak. It was chosen for being easy to read and not burdening the scarce computing resources.
Acknowledgements: Stan Honey, Marv White, and others are acknowledged for their contributions. Benj Edwards' article and various documents from the Computer History Museum are also mentioned.