[kube-system]

> - GPS works even in airplane mode (while on a literal airplane) - It works without cell service, or wifi, or anything

Maybe this is a conception that some people have when their first experiences of using GPS was on a smartphone?

But my first couple GPS receivers were standalone devices without any sort of data connection, so it seems obvious to me that GPS doesn't require data.

[simplyluke]

A < 30 year old today almost certainly had a modern smartphone with mapping when they learned to drive, entirely skipping the era of garmin and similar GPS devices in cars.

My only exposure to GPS without data came from outdoor sports where GPS watches and PLBs are common, as are offline mapping applications. I don't think it's obvious to most casual users of GPS technology today that it is entirely independent from data connectivity.