Final answer:
A general term for delivering location-based services to consumer-driven vehicles is known as Telematics, which encompasses a range of technologies including GPS. Telematics integrates telecommunications with vehicular technologies to provide services such as navigation and vehicle tracking.
Step-by-step explanation:
A general term for delivering location-based services to consumer-driven vehicles is known as Telematics. This field combines telecommunications, vehicular technologies, road transportation, road safety, electrical engineering, and computer science to provide services such as GPS navigation, logistics management, and in-vehicle entertainment.
While GPS (Global Positioning System) is specifically a technology for determining precise locations using satellite signals, telematics encompasses a broader range of technologies and services such as the tracking and monitoring systems in vehicles.
GPS tracking devices, which have been available to consumers since 2000, are a crucial part of telematics. They allow for up-to-date information on location and time, which can be integrated into a larger telematics system. The growth in services like electronic toll collection and the monitoring of vehicle fleets illustrates how telematics has evolved beyond simple GPS tracking.
Technology advancements such as the Prius hybrid car, launched in 2000, and changes in consumer behavior driven by the advent of the ability to text from a mobile phone and user-generated content on the web like Wikipedia, reflect the technology-driven societal shifts that telematics is a part of.