GPS is an amazingly transformative technology, originally designed for military commanders to pinpoint enemies and navigate through hazardous battlefields. Though GPS has since spread to car navigation devices and handheld camping gizmos. Starting with the iPhone 3G, Apple began integrating GPS into their mobile device with features users eventaully took for granted.

Except when those features fail because, though GPS is now almost ubiquitous, it certainly isn’t perfect. Even the iPhone, cool as it is, has a few flaws that keep it from being the seamless experience Steve Jobs no doubt wants it to be. Here’s a list of the top ten reasons GPS can fail on the iPhone.

1. Tall buildings: Most iPhone users, especially those in New York and San Francisco, are intimately familiar with AT&T’s spotty service, but what they may not realize is that their urban environment is also working against them. GPS is a line of sight technology that needs a clear path from phone to satellite and back again. In a dense city packed with skyscrapers like New York, finding an unobstructed patch of sky to divine your location can be a serious challenge.

2. Network issues: Though the iPhone 3G boasts "true" GPS, there’s still a component of assisted GPS to the system, which requires a cell signal and numerous nearby towers with which the phone can triangulate its location. Good luck with that in a rural or mountainous setting, which are just the places where your phone is most needed. In a wilderness setting, your phone could be your lifeline, and without a signal (and surrounded by tall trees) your chances of accessing GPS and navigating yourself out of harm’s way diminishes significantly. OMG, did you just hear a bear?

3. Battery: Ever notice how quickly the battery drains when you’re watching yourself (in the form of a blue dot) travel across a city using Google Maps and GPS? Yeah, me too.

4. Cost: The basic GPS functionality in the iPhone comes baked into the unit, but if you want true turn by turn directions and super-accurate maps (rather than Google’s sometimes out of date data) you’ll have to part with $99 (!) for the TomTom GPS iPhone app. With a price like that, it’s no wonder it’s the top grossing application on the App Store, month after month. At least it’s more useful than “I Am Rich.”

5. Multitasking: Technically this isn’t TomTom’s fault, but the lack of ability to multitask with third-party apps means if you get a phone call, want to check your mail or check Twitter, you can’t navigate. Sure, you could use the iPhone maps app, but then why did you spend $99 in the first place?

6. Travel: Where are you most likely to use your GPS? In an unfamiliar location. Well, you’d better hope that location falls within your cellular service plan, because otherwise you might get slammed with ridiculously high data roaming charges just for looking up directions. As a Canadian, I face particularly egregious data rates outside of the Great White North, so whenever I travel my phone goes into airplane mode and stays there until I’m back on home turf. No Wi-Fi? No directions.

7. Natural elements: So you’ve driven out into the middle of nowhere, and there isn’t a tree or tall building in sight. Your GPS should work just fine right? Well, you’d better hope the sky doesn’t open up and pour rain or snow on top of you, because not only will you get soaked, you’ll also have no idea where you are. Snow and rain interfere with line of sight, and once again if you’re in a remote area you’re less likely to have cell service to pick up the slack.

8. GPS integration with Nike + iPod: While you can plug in your Nike + iPod sensor to your iPhone with zero difficulty, you can’t upload your routes via GPS. Why not? Isn’t the whole idea behind Nike + iPod to optimize physical fitness, and doesn’t planning the best route possible for exercise play a part in that optimization?

9. Ergonomics: The iPhone’s interface is brilliant. The fact that every other cellphone manufacturer immediately went to work ripping it off proves that point, even if Apple didn’t already have a stellar track record in interface design. So why is the iPhone’s touchscreen completely unsuited to navigation while driving? It’s not as if the Maps app couldn’t kick into ‘driving mode’ and switch to an interface that won’t keep you tapping away at buttons and putting your safety at risk. With the emergence of voice commands on the iPhone 3GS, it becomes even more unbelievable that users can’t simply tell their phones where they want to go and control the interface by voice while driving. Apple is headquartered in California, shouldn’t Apple follow the State of California’s lead in banning hands-on cell use in cars and become leaders in hands-free, voice activated navigation and interface control?

10. Google’s feud with Apple: While Google and Apple’s war of words has little to do with the GPS technology on board the iPhone, how dirty will you feel if your GPS is forced to sully itself by dealing with maps provided my Yahoo or (shudder) Bing? The mind reels.

Some of the above listed GPS flaws are a matter of design and engineering, and can be fixed (or in some cases, already have been fixed) by Apple and third-party applications. Some problems, like buildings and trees blocking line-of-sight, can only be fixed by improving GPS itself, or adopting whole new technologies. But the entire list demonstrates that while the iPhone is the best possible mobile experience, it isn’t perfect. And anything short of perfection isn’t just unacceptable to Steve Jobs, it’s also unacceptable for Apple users.