Paper map sales are booming
wsj.com
Paper map sales are booming
1–10 of 326 posts
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#2> His customers, he added, aren’t just looking to maps for directions, but as inspiration for future trips or even as art worth hanging.
I think that alone accounts for the vast majority of this increase. The article throws that in as a minor detail but I'd bet money it's the only reason. Of course you don't get as many clicks for "More people are buying maps as art". 2 of the 3 examples of maps they give at the end are exclusively art (raised maps and the coffee map).
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#3Re: Paper map sales are booming
#4Went hiking while relying on a phone app. Offline, it cached the map no problems, until a few hours in when the TTL must have been triggered then everything disappeared. Bought a real map soon after.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#5> His customers, he added, aren’t just looking to maps for directions, but as inspiration for future trips or even as art worth hanging. I think that alone accounts for the vast majority of this increase. The article throws that in as a minor detail but I'd bet money it's the only reason. Of course you don't get as many clicks for "More people are buying maps as art". 2 of the 3 examples of maps they give at the end…
Essentially retro-chic.
Some may have also discovered some utility in being able to have a big picture view of a destination. However, I wouldn't impute too much utility to the explanation. I'd be pretty surprised if younger generations are suddenly discovering that it can be really useful to have a physical backup in case their phone battery dies.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#6Went hiking while relying on a phone app. Offline, it cached the map no problems, until a few hours in when the TTL must have been triggered then everything disappeared. Bought a real map soon after.
I won't say I'm religious about it--especially if somewhere familiar--but if I'm being doctrinaire, I'd argue you should always have a physical map and compass while hiking.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#7Went hiking while relying on a phone app. Offline, it cached the map no problems, until a few hours in when the TTL must have been triggered then everything disappeared. Bought a real map soon after.
I won't say I'm religious about it--especially if somewhere familiar--but if I'm being doctrinaire, I'd argue you should always have a physical map and compass while hiking.
... and know how to use it ...
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#8Even though I bring my phone with offline maps downloaded (Gaia GPS), I still like to bring a paper map of the area as well.
In addition to having another option in case my phone breaks or dies, paper maps are nice to have so people can gather around and look together and build knowledge. When solo, paper maps are an easy thing to look at when sitting around the camp.
Shout out to my local cartographer Bryan Conant who makes excellent maps of both the Dick Smith Wilderness and San Rafael Wilderness within the Los Padres National Forest.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#9Went hiking while relying on a phone app. Offline, it cached the map no problems, until a few hours in when the TTL must have been triggered then everything disappeared. Bought a real map soon after.
Strange... if you store a map for offline viewing in Google Maps, it will be cached for at least a few months - and when that time expires, it will ask you if you want to update it. But I can't vouch for the various hiking apps which may be better for hiking data, but have worse UX overall.
Or you can use an "offline-only" app like OSMAnd and feed it with GPX tracks downloaded from hiking sites, then you only have to worry about keeping your battery charged...
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I won't say I'm religious about it--especially if somewhere familiar--but if I'm being doctrinaire, I'd argue you should always have a physical map and compass while hiking.
... and know how to use it ...
Fair. As someone who grew up with physical maps, using them is pretty intuitive but I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone. And, of course, some aspects of topographic maps take some education.
With respect to compass, I'm not sure how critical real orienteering is for most people. It's more about not being totally turned around and/or being able to make sure you hit some feature like a road.