The Pad Nav

An over-reliance on technology has made us humans a lazy breed and few items typify our laziness more than the Sat-Nav. Gone are the days of map-reading and, I for one, can guarantee you that if someone handed me a paper map and told me to get from point A to point B, I will fail epically in this task and would, in all likelihood, end up sobbing in a corner somewhere, rocking back and forth.

So, in order to poke fun at our dependence on technology, we have the Pad Nav which, instead of polarising your car’s location with satellites and magic, just has you write your directions to your intended destination on the pad incorporated into the Sat-Nav looking device which you can slap on your windscreen when you’re heading on a journey and see whether you can reach your destination without a voice repeatedly telling you to “Turn around when possible”.

The brilliant Pad Nav is the brain-child of Henry Franks, a product designer who dedicates himself to solving problems and coming up with innovative ideas. It definitely looks more visually appealing than your average sat-nav but whether it gets me to my intended destination as readily is something that remains to be seen, I guess. But, truth be told, I’d rather have a spiffing walnut Pad Nav than a plastic Sat Nav any day of the week. Check out some great images below: