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Printed maps have their advantages. When you update your GPS, the old data is gone. If you have a printed map, you at least have a historical record.
Quote from: bandit957 on August 16, 2015, 12:01:57 PM
Printed maps have their advantages. When you update your GPS, the old data is gone. If you have a printed map, you at least have a historical record.
And as the article says, paper maps don't short circuit when wet or suffer from low batteries.
Printed maps are also far superior in showing detail over a wider area. Digital maps typically lose too much detail when zoomed to an overview scale; after all, they're constrained by the small size of the screens on which they're usually displayed.
iPhone
If you want to stop making paper maps I'll you can take my paper maps out of my cold, dead hands.
GPS maps though are good for navigating smaller areas. I can use Google maps to see the back roads of New England, but that level is detail is going to be hard to find on a paper map.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on August 16, 2015, 08:59:03 PM
GPS maps though are good for navigating smaller areas. I can use Google maps to see the back roads of New England, but that level is detail is going to be hard to find on a paper map.
I agree. It is not really practical when you want to roadgeek around Pittsburgh but it is very practical when you need to find 745 Evergreen Terrace.
There's room for both, in my opinion. If I want to get from Portland, Maine to Burlington, Vermont then a map might be practical but if I'm trying to get from my house to the local Wal-Mart then a GPS would be great.
Always like having the backup hardcopy of a map
The only good thing about digital maps is that they are easier to read than traditional paper ones. I really have to squint sometimes to read the numbers on paper unless I hold it up to my face. But at the same time digital maps also require you to look at a computer screen which could be straining to your eyes.
Another advantage of paper maps over GPSs is that you can find scenic drives in a paper map but not in a GPS. Chris can confirm that.