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Actress Helen Mirren weighed in on the tragic 1994 death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain — timely — and talked about how sad it makes her that he totally missed out on using GPS.

I mean… true?

Before we go too crazy, let’s hear Helen out. I mean, I think she deserves at least that much. She was in Caligula, after all.

“I always say, it’s so sad that Kurt Cobain died when he did, because he never saw GPS,” Mirren said in an interview with The Standard. “GPS is the most wonderful thing, to watch my little blue spot walking down the street. I just find it completely magical and unbelievable.”

Y’know what? If you ignore the fact that Kurt had a daughter, a n̶u̶t̶t̶y̶ loving wife, missed out on seeing his music being enjoyed by generations of fans, didn’t get to see his band get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and didn’t get the chance to become one of the genre’s elder statesmen; then yes, I think missing out on GPS may be the biggest bummer.

Poor Kurt was asking gas station attendants for directions, cracking open atlases, and getting TripTiks from AAA. 

That was all he knew. Sad.

We take GPS for granted. I sometimes use it even when I know where I’m going because I like knowing how I can avoid traffic and what my estimated time of arrival is.

Also, it kind of makes me feel like Captain Kirk when I have it open.

Kurt didn’t get to experience any of that.

Helen Mirren talked about why it bums her out that Kurt Cobain never got to use GPS. (Getty Images)

Helen Mirren Is Happy To Be 79… But That Doesn’t Explain Why Her Example Of Someone Who Didn’t Get To See GPS Was Kurt Cobain

Mirren elaborated on her point, which was how thankful she is to be 79 years old and be able to experience technology advancing at the rate that it does these days.

“I never thought I’d be 79. I’m not full of youth, but I am life full. I much prefer that phrase,” she said. “And I feel so grateful that I lived in a world without technology for quite some time. I knew a world without technology in a deep and full sense… Human connection was a very different thing back then.”

But still… why was Kurt Cobain the example she used? 

Here’s a list of other people who didn’t get to experience GPS:

  • Jimi Hendrix
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Marilyn Monroe
  • Mark Twain
  • Janis Joplin
  • All of the Three Stooges, including Joe DeRita and Joe Besser
  • Johannes Gutenberg
  • Elvis Presley
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Billionaire Recluse/Movie And Casino Mogul/Urine Jar Collector Howard Hughes
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Orson Welles
  • Miles Davis
  • Leonardo Da Vinci
  • All but one of the Andrews Sisters
  • Every Roman Emperor
  • Amelia Earhart And Fred Noonan (and, boy, could they have used it)

Now, that’s not an exhaustive list, but none of them got to us GPS either. I’m not sure why Cobain was her example, but the point still stands: if you live long enough to see technology evolve, be thankful… also GPS is pretty damn great.