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    Re: GPS v "dead-tree cartography"
    From: Lu Abel
    Date: 2010 Jun 19, 12:55 -0700
    An interesting article, but starts with a fundamental misunderstanding:   GPS is a location-finding system.   Cartography is concerned with representing what is around any particular location.   Two entirely different sciences, although ones that traditionally complement each other.  Perhaps a more technically literate author would have talked about "dead-tree cartography" [I love the phrase] vs electronic cartography.    The American Automobile Association's cessation of paper map production is a surprise (I was about to go to my local AAA office and pick up a bunch of them), but perhaps a reflection of the increasing relevance of electronic navigation systems in automobiles.

    A big problem I experience with most electronic mapping systems (especially automobile navigation systems) is their failure to provide the "big picture" so I can look and say "gee, I could follow route A but I know it has horrible traffic jams on it this time of day or I could follow route B which is a bit longer in distance but won't have traffic jams."

    At the same time, never underestimate the value of electronic mapping.  I recently returned from a trip to Japan.   After traveling around Japan, we took the bullet train back to Tokyo to spend our last night there.   We hailed a cab and gave him the address of our hotel (a small, unknown one but, as we subsequently discovered, only 1-1/2 blocks from a major downtown subway stop).  The cabbie seemed to get lost very quickly.   My companion was carrying an iPhone and had activated data only on it while we were in Japan.   He brought up Google maps and typed in the address of our hotel -- and said under his breath "the cab is heading away from the hotel."   After stopping and asking directions of fellow cabbies several times, the cab driver was ready to admit he was lost.  We pulled out our English-Japanese dictionary and looked up the words for "left," "right," and "straight ahead" and literally used Google maps on an iPhone to direct the cabbie to our hotel.   Needless to say, he was very embarrassed.   And we were very grateful for Google and Apple and GPS, otherwise we might still be wandering the streets of Tokyo.

    Lu Abel


    From: Peter Fogg <piterr11@gmail.com>
    To: NavList@fer3.com
    Sent: Thu, June 17, 2010 10:46:03 PM
    Subject: [NavList] GPS v "dead-tree cartography"

    An article on GPS versus "dead-tree cartography" is at:
     
    making similar points as have been made here on a fairly regular basis.

       
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