In this era of high technology, of wireless information, GPS, satellites, multi-featured cell phones and user-friendly user interfaces, yes, I bought a compass :-) And yes, it also has a thermometer (and if you wonder where in the world it’s 30 degrees in late November, answer is: an overheated room in Tokyo).
I can read a map but I do not own a GPS. And even if I did, it wouldn’t tell me towards which direction I should start walking when getting out of a metro station (unless I walk a little while, see where my new position is, and figure out the north from there). It just feels natural and comfortable to me, when I am in unknown places, to have a slight idea of my environment :-)
