History tells us that GPS took its first steps in 1972-73, but it wasn't until the mid-'90s that public access was released. Meanwhile, the concept of vehicular navigation was being explored through other initiatives. One of them was Etak Navigator, which used magnetic tapes to load maps. In most cases, the Etak Navigator was described as ahead of its time, but if it was so good, what went wrong??
A yacht trip, elements from Atari, and a contact with the US Census Bureau mark the colorful origin of the Etak Navigator. The year was 1985, and the idea of public access to the GPS system was still too green. After all, the Reagan administration's order had been issued two years earlier, following the tragedy of KAL Flight 007 shot down by a Soviet fighter.
How did the Etak Navigator work?
In essence, the Etak Navigator was a miniature computer. Its heart was composed of an Intel 8088 chip, RAM amounted to 256 kilobytes, and its EPROM module (not to be confused with EEPROM) was 32 kilobytes. The plan to use a CRT monitor with adequate resolution would have made the Etak Navigator an economically prohibitive option, so the alternative was to implement a vector-based CRT, similar to that of oscilloscopes. This turned out to be a good idea, especially during daytime driving.
The biggest problem was that there were no databases, firmware downloads, WiFi, or available satellite resources. This led the Etak Navigator to adopt a magnetic storage system, special cassettes to be precise. Each of these tapes could store a maximum of 3.5 megabytes of data, impressive for the era, but with several technical challenges on its shoulders.
First, that space was not enough, and the San Francisco Bay Area demanded six tapes for its complete map. Second, conventional audio cassette shells were inadequate due to their heat problems (basically, they would melt), and the Etak had to use polycarbonate cassettes with a maximum tolerance of 105 degrees Celsius. The rest of the work was up to sensors installed on the wheels and an electronic compass located in the rear windshield.
One aspect that the Etak Navigator definitely invented is the car-centered viewpoint on maps. Today, all GPS work the same way, demonstrating the safety and comfort that the Navigator developers had anticipated.
What happened to the Etak Navigator?
So what happened? Let's say the Etak Navigator was a hard device to sell in 1985. The Model 450 with a 4.5-inch screen had a price of $1,395, while its big brother Model 700 with seven inches jumped to $1,595. Each additional tape cost $35, and more maps were added over time. Stan Honey, one of the masterminds behind the navigator, estimates that between two thousand and five thousand units were sold, a number that by current electronics standards would be a failure.
However, Etak had a revelation: Its map digitization process was much more important than the hardware. That's how it began licensing its technology to other companies, which allowed it to reach markets as remote as Japan. News Corporation bought Etak in 1989 for 25 million dollars, then sold it to Sony in 1996, and finally it was absorbed in 2000 by Tele Atlas, a subsidiary of TomTom.
What went wrong with the Etak Navigator? The answer is nothing. It was a pioneer in vehicular navigation, its hardware served a good purpose, and the technology derived from its development is present in thousands of current products.
