I will go out of my way to use _anything_ that is not a screen. I stare at screens, all day, ever day. Every moment not gazing into a hyper-bright magic rectangle is a relief.
Paper map sales are booming
21–30 of 326 posts
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
... 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.
While you're attempting to generally go downstream (think about it), even if you wind up totally turned around, then at least never leave your drainage.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
... 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.
I love paper maps, but I have to admit I don't use them much. Speaking of the WSJ, my paper copy is waiting out on the driveway. For hands-free reading while you're eating breakfast, it beats the snot out of reading off a screen. Something about the number of words you can read without scrolling.
As for orienteering: I learned it once and never used it. (btw, the Sierra Club course where I learned it got cancelled when someone sued over an injury in ice ax practice.)
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#24Something I find really fun when traveling in the car with kids is to give them a paper map and ask them to plan a route a for us to get to our destination. Then when you're driving ask them to follow along and give the directions. Obviously they can't be too young and they're not going to be perfect, but if you have a child around 7-13 they'll probably find this quite fun. Being able to use a map is one of those ski…
I navigated a cross-country road trip when I was 14. Absolutely a great way to learn about maps, traveling, time estimation.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#25Went 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…
If for some reason the offline google maps don't get updated and expire, you are going to be unable use them at all in a critical situation.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#26Went 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…
According to CNet, with Google Maps "Transit, bicycling and walking directions are also not available offline -- only driving directions." https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/why-you-shou...
So Google Maps offline may actually be useless for hiking? This would also explain why I had trouble using Google Maps offline on my last bike trip.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#27> 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…
I only own one paper map, and it is specifically for art. I've traveled extensively and I wanted a way to track where I've been, so it's stapled to a pin-board, so I can put push-pins in after I visit somewhere. I've been primarily using a portable form of GPS for more than a decade, even before Google Maps.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#28Something I find really fun when traveling in the car with kids is to give them a paper map and ask them to plan a route a for us to get to our destination. Then when you're driving ask them to follow along and give the directions. Obviously they can't be too young and they're not going to be perfect, but if you have a child around 7-13 they'll probably find this quite fun. Being able to use a map is one of those ski…
an interesting thought experiment is to ponder just how many skills are being lost due to technology. I know how to read a map and how to find rough compass bearings but i was never in a situation where i needed either skill. Could i manage without GPS - probably but i’m not confident.
If GPS died tomorrow because of a solar flare, would the younger generations manage?
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#29Some of the most fun I've had while traveling is exploring a city without a phone. Just write down your home address and destination address on a card, and if you need a mulligan - a taxi can take you to either. Related: this reminds me of the "paper phone" concept from Google: https://experiments.withgoogle.com/paper-phone
I love this idea! Looks like Google either didn't launch it or shitcanned it after a year.
Re: Paper map sales are booming
#30I buy paper Ordnance Survey maps because they come with a scratch-off code to get the map in their digital app. You can also pay an annual subscription of about 50 quid to get coverage of the whole UK, but for my usage, which is limited to fairly small geographic areas, I prefer to pay the 8 or 9 quid each for the paper maps covering the areas I care about, which then gets me access to that map forever, rather than having an ongoing annual expense. And it's nice to have the paper map to be able to look at a larger area at once.