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Paper map sales are booming

wsj.com

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Re: Paper map sales are booming

#61

Post by andrepd »

space_fountain wrote: post #56
kimbernator wrote: post #45

This is a little tangential, but last year me and my girlfriend went to Greece for the first time. A few days after we purchased the tickets, a book came in the mail. She had ordered a tourism guide for Greece that had some recommendations about what to see, where to eat, where to stay, etc. My first reaction was along the lines of "why would we do this when we have the entire internet? Each section is written by onl…

Not really disagreeing, but I’d like to plug Wikivoyage which has also (for me), been very helpful

+1 for wikivoyage

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#62

Post by chordalkeyboard »

dljsjr wrote: post #49

Anybody remember Triptiks from AAA? You'd go to a AAA office or call them on the phone, tell them where you were going, and in return you'd get a printed spiral top-bound pad with your trip broken down in to multiple legs, the roads/routes pre-highlighted, gas stops and prices estimated in, a list of sites for stopping off at, etc. All human curated and human annotated (the roads on your route were literally gone ove…

AAA will also print them themselves and mail them to members upon request.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#63

Post by troymc »

DrThunder wrote: post #51

I love looking at paper maps for my wilderness backpacking/camping trips. I really like seeing where the trail leads and what camping spots I can use. It just makes it feel like a big adventure. Additionally, having a weather proof map for wilderness trips is invaluable. I'd never rely on a digital device to provide what could be a life saving tool.

Wilderness backpacking/camping trips are a great use case for (laminated) paper maps. You really need a good map, and you don't want to be dependent on an electronic device that has many failure modes (e.g. running out of power, getting wet, getting dropped into a canyon, getting smashed...).

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#64

Post by ghaff »

kimbernator wrote: post #45

This is a little tangential, but last year me and my girlfriend went to Greece for the first time. A few days after we purchased the tickets, a book came in the mail. She had ordered a tourism guide for Greece that had some recommendations about what to see, where to eat, where to stay, etc. My first reaction was along the lines of "why would we do this when we have the entire internet? Each section is written by onl…

When you're going to spend maybe a few thousand dollars to travel someplace (especially cities or other popular mainstream areas), not spending $15 or so on a Lonely Planet/Rough Guide/etc. seems like false economy. Is it definitive? No. But it's generally a well-curated guide to what people like.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#65

Post by fmajid »

kimbernator wrote: post #45

This is a little tangential, but last year me and my girlfriend went to Greece for the first time. A few days after we purchased the tickets, a book came in the mail. She had ordered a tourism guide for Greece that had some recommendations about what to see, where to eat, where to stay, etc. My first reaction was along the lines of "why would we do this when we have the entire internet? Each section is written by onl…

I like the beautifully illustrated Dorling Kindersley books (disclaimer: my wife used to work for DK a long time ago, but in children's books, not the guides).

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#66

Post by floren »

Kon-Peki wrote: post #55
bee_rider wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people could re-learn they skill pretty quickly, but putting that aside, I wonder how well we could do with just ground based stuff. We’d still have triangulation via cell towers, which was widely used not that long ago. Also I wonder how well we could do with a modern cellphone using image recognition on the road signs paired with a really accurate map of the roads.

Great idea! Old marine maps had various landmarks on them, along with their height. This allowed you to get angle and distance, giving you the opportunity to calculate position with pen and paper even if you only had a single landmark in view.

Not just old marine maps -- modern marine charts have the same. They mark radio towers, grain silos, etc. because although GPS is widely-used, the old navigation techniques are still important.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#67

Post by wintogreen74 »

zikduruqe wrote: post #39
eldaisfish wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

https://www.gislounge.com/spatial-orientation-and-the-brain-... Studies have shown that people just cannot read maps anymore due to dependence on GPS apps in their daily lives.

Forget about maps and navigation, I just wish all the people obliviously using their phones in public had the spatial awareness to realize they exist in a shared space and take up physical volume. Think sidewalks, roads, etc.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#69

Post by kypro »

eldaisfish wrote: post #28
kypro wrote: post #20

Something 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?

My GF has been telling about how there's a lot kids at her school that don't know how to tell the time on analogue clocks anymore.

She says it's because kids don't interact with analogue clocks much anymore and Covid lockdowns meant that a lot of kids never learnt it in school either. So apparently there is now a generation of kids who are around 10 - 12 who have no idea how to read the time from an analogue clock.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#70

Post by mxuribe »

dljsjr wrote: post #49

Anybody remember Triptiks from AAA? You'd go to a AAA office or call them on the phone, tell them where you were going, and in return you'd get a printed spiral top-bound pad with your trip broken down in to multiple legs, the roads/routes pre-highlighted, gas stops and prices estimated in, a list of sites for stopping off at, etc. All human curated and human annotated (the roads on your route were literally gone ove…

I had always heard of this - and so highly regarded for years(!) - but never used myself.
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