28 satellites, one small device - your exact location
"The Sky's the Limit" from Fast Company's Issue 72.
Some 11,000 miles above the earth, 28 satellites beam down data that enables the targeting of locations with once-unthinkable precision. It's a lethal tool in war -- and a killer app for business. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is transforming everything from auto insurance to agriculture, from hauling freight to trading stocks. Is your business next?
The writer does a good job of showing how GPS works (I had no idea they used atomic clocks in the satellites themselves), and of pointing out how GPS revolutionizes business in two industries - trucking and farming. And then he points out how little GPS is used today, just like how little specialty computer chips were used decades ago.
Now we have chips inside birthday cards and teddy bears.
Imagine what we can think to do with GPS (American or otherwise) in the next few years...