Maps on paper (an appreciation for the tactile)
20 April 2010 1 Comment
I’ve always appreciated maps on paper, and can look at them for extended periods of time even when I’m not planning a trip. Fandangled electronic options are taking over though, and some suggest this could lead to a loss of cultural and geographic literacy. Besides this, I’ve heard of a few disasterous accounts of over-reliance on GPS in the past year, one of which ended up with the wrong house — full of family heirlooms — being demolished.
The most significant advantage I see in GPS is the ability to point you to local services which the article I link to above also points out. This is useful and something paper maps can’t do.
Still, let’s not give up on tactile mappage just yet.
Books. I like my book in my hands.
For me, GPS is like letting somebody else take me somewhere. When that happens, I tend to quit paying attention to the things that’ll let me repeat the journey. (For example, being taken on a tour of the first architecture office I worked in, which was sizeable! That was bad.)
Or when I was learning to drive. Sure, I’d gone to these places a hundred times… riding in the back seat. Left to my own devices, I had to re-learn where everything was. My family STILL makes jokes that I get lost easily. (I don’t. Now.)