So, what technology will you pack for your summer holidays? Every other tech rag is posing that same question, so I will ask you a different one: how will technology behave while on holiday? Will batteries run out of juice in places where electricity is still a once-a-week occurrence? Will it throw a tantrum and leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere without a mobile signal? And will your GPS send you to a holiday destination you never actually chose?

So, last week, I was doing a spot of driving abroad. And, as usually (make that always) happens, when confronted with the reality of summer roadworks, the GPS got slightly confused.

It is necessary to keep one’s compass in one’s eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges- Michelangelo

Actually, it wasn’t the GPS that faltered. It was me who, given alternative routes which at face value didn’t make any sense, adopted those two traits which transform a fairly good driver (even if I say so) into the worst kind: a stubborn resistance to change and the sense of direction of a supermarket trolley with a faulty wheel.

When in doubt, what should you do, have faith in your GPS or give in to your travelling companion’s suggestions? After all, the GPS, like any other form of technology, isn’t infallible. We’ve all heard stories about people ending up in the middle of a lake just because the GPS insisted that they take a left turn. And Jane, the voice of reason in most situations, can be irritatingly assertive in suggesting that I make a U-turn in the middle of a busy motorway.

But then, your travelling companion, especially if it’s your wife, isn’t infallible either. It must be something that women – or at least the woman in my life – do: argue with the GPS. And they don’t want to simply suggest an alternative route... they want to humiliate Jane and prove her wrong.

So, who will you side with, your wife or your GPS? Tricky question. And being a tricky question, I will not go there. But just remember that living the life of Theodore in the film Her isn’t exactly fun. And neither is driving 400 kilometres in silent rage.

techeditor@timesofmalta.com