NavList:

If you look at the official NOAA/NOS announcement, paper charts will still be available -- but from "print-on-demand" services rather than your local chandlery having to stock dozens of charts (most of which will be returned to NOAA because nobody has purchased them). 
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20131022_nauticalcharts.html

The death of paper charts is, in my opinion, due not only to technical progress (chartplotters, PC-based charting programs, print-on-demand sites) but also the ridiculous price charged for them.  NOAA charts are now close to US $20 each at many chandleries.   So if I want the dozen or so charts (coastal charts, harbor charts, etc) necessary to cover a weeken's cruise, I'm easily looking  at $200.  But US charts are not copyright, so I can buy a commercially published chart-book with 20 or more charts in it for $40 or so. 

Also NOAA has decided it's in the business of providing chart DATA, not the charts themselves.   So, for example, all NOAA charts are downloadable in raster format (and many in ENC (vector) format, too) for free from the NOAA web site.   In fact, NOAA is experimenting with a new "booklet charts" where a standard chart has been reduced to a series of 8-1/2 x 11 (inches) pages for printing on a home printer.

I suspect another cause of death of paper charts is the the fact that commercial ships, which formerly were required to have the latest version of every chart for every area they operate in, can now have them in digital format feeding a commercial-grade chartplotter.

. 

---

No more paper charts? And if your PC freezes up?

-- Richard Langley

Begin forwarded message:

From: Christine Simmons <christines{at}lfpr.com>

Date: October 23, 2013 11:47:30 AM ADT

To: <lang{at}unb.ca>

Subject: Richard: NOAA Gives the 'Heave-Ho' to Paper Maps - Why the Switch to Digital Makes Sense - Resource Available

Reply-To: <christines{at}lfpr.com>

Hi Richard,

 

Following the path of books and music which are moving to a digital model, paper maps are getting the "heave-ho" from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the organization sails into a digital world. 

 

As early as April 2014, NOAA will discontinue printing its lithographic nautical charts in favor of its increasingly  popular digital versions, saving the organization millions of dollars in printing and updating.

 

With both novice and more experienced mariners having access to technology that can provide accurate readings in a store-bought hand-held device, maps are experiencing a type of "geospatial evolution."  If you are interested in how today's mariners are accessing these types of maps, I’d like to setup a call with Ted Florence, president Avenza Systems who already works with the NOAA on creating a working geo-referenced digital map for use on hand-held devices --more than 2,100 NOAA maps at this point.  He can also share how the popularity of digital maps has grown with consumers as well as how traditional map publishers are dealing with the change from the paper world to a digital one.

 

Let me know what you’d like to do!

 

--

Christine Simmons

LFPR

For Avenza

http://www.pdf-maps.com/

t: 949-502-6200 ext. 320

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| Richard B. Langley                            E-mail: lang{at}unb.ca         |

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