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Paper map sales are booming

wsj.com

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Re: Paper map sales are booming

#291

Post by GeekyBear »

lmm wrote: post #285
GeekyBear wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $399 iPhone SE that has gotten seven years of OS updates and is still getting security updates today is as cost effective as several bargain bin devices that have to be quickly replaced.

Maybe. If you have the $399 upfront or the credit rating to get it on a phone contract. If you have anything to spend on buying a phone at all as opposed to having to use whatever hand-me-down device found its way to you.

> as opposed to having to use whatever hand-me-down device found its way to you

Given that Apple just issued another security update for the decade old iPhone 5s, your ability to hand down an iPhone is greatly extended, especially compared to the support policy you get with a bottom of the barrel Android device.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#292

Post by rkagerer »

larrik wrote: post #190
massysett wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a lot of ways, electronic maps are still inferior to the Triptik. Even the Rand McNally showed highway rest areas and picnic areas. The Triptik also showed gas stations. Electronic maps often lack this entirely, at least in easy form. The Triptik shows what you need to know while on a long motor trip. The electronic map emphasizes details I don't need. At a glance the paper map tells me whether a road is free limi…

I've been growing pretty dissatisfied with the state of electronic maps. Basic things that are usually either impossible or difficult while using Google Maps or Apple Maps for directions: - What road am I on? What town am I in? - and other flavors of "where the hell am I, anyway?" - This is especially annoying when on the phone and the person is asking where you are, and the best you can answer is "Google says I'm X…

One thing that drives me nuts on Google Maps is "Search Nearby" doesn't leave your original point of interest (that you're searching around) on the map when showing results. Pretty sure it didn't used to be like this.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#293

Post by nicbou »

I like paper maps because you can write on them. Every hostel will tear a map off a pile and draw directions on them for their guests.

I have an iPad and a Pencil. There just isn't any app that lets me plan the same way with digital maps, circling things and writing.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#294

Post by nicbou »

walnutclosefarm wrote: post #231
reader_x wrote: post #199

A cartography professor of mine once advised me to take another career path because cartography was dying; he added, “Google Maps has terrible maps- but no one seems to care.” It heartens me to see in HN comments that some are noticing. A pet peeve of mine is when water bodies go unlabeled. An old-fashioned paper map like the kind inserted in National Geographic mags when I was wee included a breathtaking amount of i…

Google and most other digital maps are indeed terrible maps. They are fine for a certain kind of navigation task, and great for looking up where the Starbucks nearest your current location is located, but for most other map uses, and certainly for actually getting a picture in your head of where you are or want to go, and how that relates to other things that you know or may want to know, or for thinking about an iti…

OsmAnd is a good option for this. I use it where Google Maps fails, namely layering multiple things, and going hiking.

If something is missing, you can slowly improve the map yourself. I've contributed hundreds of places to OSM in more distant places.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#295

Post by criley2 »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #217
criley2 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's solution isn't a serious contender because it's hardware locked to high end devices that the majority of people don't use / can't afford (the demographics of this community not withstanding). While it's nice that their users can have an alternate first-party experience, that experience is not a publically available map. For example if you go to maps.apple.com you are told "Open this on your Apple Hardware". (…

Apple isn't a serious contender because their devices aren't sponsored by tracking/ads? You can also get an iOS device (partly) included with a post-paid mobile plan, can't you?

You literally didn't even quote my point correctly. This is called a strawman and it's extremely low effort and beneath the quality of this community.

Apple Maps isn't a serious contender because 1) it's not public 2) it's not web 3) iOS represents a minority of the world userbase.

Worldwide it's 70% Android and 20% Apple.

And let's not forget that Google Maps is available on iOS and Web. So you have "iOS only" vs "Android/iOS/Web/etc".

Obviously only one of those is a serious competitor.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#296

Post by nicbou »

adamwong246 wrote: post #21

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.

I'd like to read about your approach. This is something I am considering too, but screens are a good medium for a lot of what I do.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#297

Post by nicbou »

jmkb wrote: post #12
rr888 wrote: post #4

Went 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.

Use an app that permanently downloads maps -- I like Mapy.cz and Organic Maps. And bring a waterproof phone case, an external battery, and a charging cable. And also bring a waterproof paper map because it's lighter, easier to read, more resilient, and more fun.

OsmAnd is the pocket knife of cartography. It's by far the most flexible map I've use, although it's not as user-friendly as others. You can really choose what gets rendered and how.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#298

Post by datpiff »

GeekyBear wrote: post #291
lmm wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe. If you have the $399 upfront or the credit rating to get it on a phone contract. If you have anything to spend on buying a phone at all as opposed to having to use whatever hand-me-down device found its way to you.

> as opposed to having to use whatever hand-me-down device found its way to you Given that Apple just issued another security update for the decade old iPhone 5s, your ability to hand down an iPhone is greatly extended, especially compared to the support policy you get with a bottom of the barrel Android device.

>Given that Apple just issued another security update for the decade old iPhone 5s, your ability to hand down an iPhone is greatly extended, especially compared to the support policy you get with a bottom of the barrel Android device.

I think this is a fair point in favour of Apple, but I would be surprised if many people who are weighing up hand-me-downs vs cheapest models are concerned with security updates

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#299

Post by GeekyBear »

datpiff wrote: post #298
GeekyBear wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as opposed to having to use whatever hand-me-down device found its way to you Given that Apple just issued another security update for the decade old iPhone 5s, your ability to hand down an iPhone is greatly extended, especially compared to the support policy you get with a bottom of the barrel Android device.

>Given that Apple just issued another security update for the decade old iPhone 5s, your ability to hand down an iPhone is greatly extended, especially compared to the support policy you get with a bottom of the barrel Android device. I think this is a fair point in favour of Apple, but I would be surprised if many people who are weighing up hand-me-downs vs cheapest models are concerned with security updates

Build quality, years of OS updates and security patch longevity are absolutely reasons why iPhones hold their value much longer than a bottom of the barrel Android device does.

> based on handsets with an initial buyback price of $700 or higher, Android phones lose value twice as fast as iOS models over the first two years of ownership.

https://www.phonearena.com/news/android-phones-lose-more-val...

Also, the cheaper the Android device, the quicker it depreciates.

Re: Paper map sales are booming

#300

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

stephen_g wrote: post #278
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no way to see a street name on Apple Maps without zooming in entirely. And sometimes even then, I'll see something like Route 99 instead the name by which everyone refers to the road: "Broadway".

This annoys me too. I've submitted map feedback (holding and tapping 'Report a problem' on the map) before but who knows if that could make much of a difference. I assumed the route numbers are more of an American thing (although your comment seems to imply perhaps not)? We have them here but nobody I know here in Australia uses them or knows them, apart from major motorways. Maybe the other routes are used by trucke…

> assumed the route numbers are more of an American thing

Not for streets that go through a town or city and have maximum speeds of 30 mph (48 Kmh). And those are the streets that Maps displays route numbers. I don’t know of truckers using those streets.

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