The quality of Thomas Brothers Maps and Guides going down?

[ACSCmapcollector]

Ever since Rand McNally bought and merged cartography with operations now in India, it is a clear indication of outsourcing for Thomas Brothers Maps and Guides going downhill from there, which year?  What about the quality of these maps, atlases, etc nowdays?

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[Quillz]

I think the main reason is there is little reason for paper maps anymore. Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, available on computers and smartphones, always up to date and you can use them for turn-by-turn directions. Hard for paper maps to compete, really.

That said, I still appreciate paper maps, but I look at them when I'm sitting down and have stopped using them for actual navigation long ago.

[bulldog1979]

I think the main reason is there is little reason for paper maps anymore. Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, available on computers and smartphones, always up to date and you can use them for turn-by-turn directions. Hard for paper maps to compete, really.

That said, I still appreciate paper maps, but I look at them when I'm sitting down and have stopped using them for actual navigation long ago.

There is one good reason to retain them: they form a historical record. I know we appreciate paper maps for that reason, but we're hardly the ones ones to use them for historical research purposes.

[7/8]

It would be cool if Google Maps added a feature where you can scroll back to different years and see how roads have changed through time. It would probably be a lot of work though. But I wouldn't think it would be too hard to go back only 5 years, assuming they keep good records of their updates to their maps. It would be like reverting to an older version.

I personally will always have paper maps. There's too much satisfaction to highliting new roads I've been on, and they're great to have on road trips

[pianocello]

It would be cool if Google Maps added a feature where you can scroll back to different years and see how roads have changed through time. It would probably be a lot of work though. But I wouldn't think it would be too hard to go back only 5 years, assuming they keep good records of their updates to their maps. It would be like reverting to an older version.

Google Earth already has old satellite pictures going back to the 90s in most areas. It'd be cool if that was incorporated into Google Maps.

[djsekani]

The Thomas Guide still shows address blocks, something Google Maps feels is perfectly okay to leave out. Bing Maps used to show them, but doesn't anymore.