{"id":1811906,"date":"2023-01-24T19:11:02","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T00:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1811906"},"modified":"2023-01-25T07:56:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T12:56:40","slug":"the-return-of-paper-maps-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/01\/the-return-of-paper-maps-again\/","title":{"rendered":"The Return of Paper Maps, Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every so often we see a story about how paper maps<\/a> are making a comeback. Last week the Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported<\/a> that sales of paper maps have been going up in recent years\u2014a story that NBC\u2019s Today<\/em> show picked up yesterday<\/a>. One of the appeals of paper maps, these stories note, is that they provide context\u2014the \u201cbigger picture,\u201d as the WSJ<\/em> article puts it. Something that can be lost when focusing on getting to the destination.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not remotely surprised that paper maps refuse to go away, that they keep showing signs of renewed life. I have a thought or two about this, and about the perennial question of paper maps in the digital age. There\u2019s a reason this question keeps coming up\u2014which these stories do get at. It\u2019s that every new technology that supplants the old does so imperfectly and incompletely.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been thinking about this because I\u2019ve been dabbling in a lot of vintage tech lately: typewriters and vinyl records. In both cases what replaced them is demonstrably better: word processors do a better job than typewriters. CDs represented an upgrade over vinyl on many fronts, as did digital music over CDs later on. And in a similar vein, the ability to have a digital map of anywhere you might end up in your pocket or on your dashboard is an unquestionable improvement over having to rely on a paper map that you may or may not have with you.<\/p>\n

And yet the old tech still has its adherents, and it isn\u2019t always about die-hards and Luddism: there\u2019s always at least one thing the old tech did better that gets lost when you switch to the new. Compared to computers, typewriters encourage disciplined, distraction-free and linear writing. Vinyl encourages active, purposeful listening. And paper maps aren\u2019t just used for immediate navigational needs: you browse them, you study them. Each of these technologies fulfil needs that haven\u2019t gone away and haven\u2019t been met by their replacements.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the old ways had substantial barriers to entry. Typewriters require a lot more typing skill, vinyl is fiddly and high-maintenance, and the ability to read a map has never been universal. More people use GPS navigation than can read a map. Sometimes the new technology is simply more democratic and more accessible.<\/p>\n

Which means that while I don\u2019t think paper maps will ever go away, they\u2019ll never take pride of place back from digital maps. (Then again, vinyl outsells CDs nowadays, so make what you will of my prognostications.)<\/p>\n

Previously: Stanfords Cartographer: \u2018Paper Is Going to Make a Comeback\u2019<\/a>; More on Stanfords\u2019s Move and Paper Maps\u2019 Comeback<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every so often we see a story about how paper maps are making a comeback. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that sales of paper maps have been going up in recent years\u2014a story… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[845],"class_list":["post-1811906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry","tag-paper-maps"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1786172,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-recommends-paper-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1811906,"position":0},"title":"Gatineau Park Recommends Paper Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 August 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Relying on your smartphone's maps can be risky in places where cellular service is patchy. That goes for Gatineau Park, where, despite the fact that its southeast corner is surrounded by the city of Gatineau, Quebec (across the river from Ottawa), staff still recommend people use paper maps, CBC News\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787071,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/02\/technochauvinism-deep-knowledge-and-paper-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1811906,"position":1},"title":"Technochauvinism, Deep Knowledge and Paper Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"6 February 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Paper maps continue to find their defenders. The latest is Meredith Broussard, author of Artificial Unintelligence. In a piece for The Conversation, she applies her argument against what she calls \"technochauvinism\"\u2014the idea that the digital and the technological are always better\u2014to mapmaking. \"Technochauvinists may believe that all digital maps are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Navigation"","block_context":{"text":"Navigation","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/navigation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787091,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/02\/more-on-the-pros-and-cons-of-paper-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1811906,"position":2},"title":"More on the Pros and Cons of Paper Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 February 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"The flurry of articles defending paper maps continues, and it can be tricky to separate them from one another: some are in the context of the Standfords store move; others are reprints of Meredith Broussard's\u00a0Conversation piece. But Sidney Stevens's essay for\u00a0Mother Nature Network\u00a0is its own thing. It acknowledges both the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Navigation"","block_context":{"text":"Navigation","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/navigation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1829634,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/04\/paper-maps-new-business-lost-loves\/","url_meta":{"origin":1811906,"position":3},"title":"Paper Maps: New Business, Lost Loves","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 April 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"GIS analyst and cartographer Andrew Middleton moved across the country to become the new owner of the Map Center, a Rhode Island map store, after the previous owner announced that he was looking for someone to give the store away to. In an interview with GeoHipster\u2019s Randal Hale, Andrew outlines\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787977,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/10\/australia-to-eliminate-paper-topographic-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1811906,"position":4},"title":"Australia to Eliminate Paper Topographic Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"29 October 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"The Australian government agency responsible for printing topographic maps will stop printing them as of December, ABC Australia reports. Geoscience Australia cites a lack of demand for paper maps, but as you can imagine there\u2019s some pushback against the decision. (The Canadian government tried something similar back in 2006, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sport & Recreation"","block_context":{"text":"Sport & Recreation","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/sport-recreation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1834492,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/10\/the-how-and-why-of-measuring-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1811906,"position":5},"title":"The How and Why of Measuring Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"15 October 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Matthew Edney poses an interesting question about measuring the physical size\u2014i.e., the length and width\u2014of paper maps: how do we do it, and why are we doing it? \u201cThere\u2019s a philosophical question (how do we construe this thing that we need to measure?), the question of precision (how finely do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1811906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1811906"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1811906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1811942,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1811906\/revisions\/1811942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1811906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1811906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1811906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}