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[quote=Southlander;47597364]Yes....paper maps that work when your phone has run out of juice or is out of reach of the closest cell tower. [/b]
Why would I need a cell tower? My smartphone has 128 gig of storage. I download the map before I travel there. I do the same on my boat. I have nautical charts of anywhere I sail. The difference is that on the boat, I also have paper charts as backup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Southlander
And I see mistakes all the time on GPS maps, whereas in all the years I've been looking at maps (50!) I've only seen one mistake.
This is kind of nonsense. A paper map and Google both come from the same database. The only difference is the paper map is using a very old snapshot of the database.
It's been at least a decade since I've used a paper map driving. My current car has no paper maps in it at all. When I get a rental car, I just drive and navigate with my phone. Anywhere I've never been before, I work out the route before I get there so the map is loaded into my phone. I have nav built in to my car but I never use it. The combination of Google and Waze is far more reliable.
I like maps, you can see where you are and where you want to go and see the best route. Also can estimate the time it will take. Also have a sense of where your going instead of blindly following spoken direction without a clue of where you are.
I agree. I would prefer to have a map with me when I am in unfamiliar territory, or just somewhere that I don't go enough to know like the back of my hand. I NEVER go to NYC without one.
I agree. I would prefer to have a map with me when I am in unfamiliar territory, or just somewhere that I don't go enough to know like the back of my hand. I NEVER go to NYC without one.
I would never go to NYC without Waze. If you're using a paper map, you end up in traffic jams. Waze routes you around the worst ones.
Compared to Waze or the other smartphone mapping applications where you can get voice prompts for navigation, navigating by paper map is extremely distracting.
I ride a motorcycle so I am a lot more exposed to risk than when driving a car. My bag is full of paper maps. I use maps the night before to get a general idea where I'll be going. That's 90%. Only when I am lost and don't know where I am at is when the iPhone comes out. I have an actual GPS on the handlebar but it's not too helpful.
No, you need to be a member. I recently went to my local AAA (only visit about every 1 to 2 years) to update hard copy maps for potential road trips and was able to get about 30 maps.
I am old and new school. I prefer spatial detail so the hard copy maps enable greater context, and then I will use Google earth often times (on my laptop) instead of Google maps so I can see more physical built environment whenever possible prior to travel. When driving the landmarks become guide markers for streets as sometimes the street signage is poor (depending on where you may be).
I was a road warrior for about 5 years traveling throughout most of USA and Canada. The few times I had GPS rental cars it seemed more trouble than it was worth. I surmise it may be better now, but I seem to enjoy the spatial recon as I currently do, rather than depend on some machine. Call me crazy or old fashioned, but I think the forced spatial short term memory challenge from studying the map is healthy for the human brain cells but that's just me and I like a spatial challenge.
I do agree with this sentiment on spatial detail and seeing the bigger picture. I purchased an atlas midway through our drive from CO to NC a few years ago just to see where we were in relation to everything. But still used GPS when we were in the city.
Yes....paper maps that work when your phone has run out of juice or is out of reach of the closest cell tower. And I see mistakes all the time on GPS maps, whereas in all the years I've been looking at maps (50!) I've only seen one mistake.
A mistake on a paper map led to the death of James Kim in Oregon a few years back. They looked at a paper map and saw what they thought was a shortcut to coast. They took the route and got stuck and he froze to death trying get walk out for help. There's a dozen things you can blame for his death, but the paper map could have prevented the whole thing if if had the right info on it. I'm a map geek and every map ever printed has errors.
A mistake on a paper map led to the death of James Kim in Oregon a few years back. They looked at a paper map and saw what they thought was a shortcut to coast. They took the route and got stuck and he froze to death trying get walk out for help. There's a dozen things you can blame for his death, but the paper map could have prevented the whole thing if if had the right info on it. I'm a map geek and every map ever printed has errors.
Yeah the reason the poster only ever saw one error on a physical map is due to lack of use. You're using a paper map to view the big picture so not much can go wrong using only highway markers on a paper map. On GPS you're using street by street navigation and for the most part totally dependent on it so any error is exacerbated. But by your post above not even paper maps are immune to errors. They all use the same database anyways so the only ones that age are the paper maps.
A mistake on a paper map led to the death of James Kim in Oregon a few years back. They looked at a paper map and saw what they thought was a shortcut to coast. They took the route and got stuck and he froze to death trying get walk out for help. There's a dozen things you can blame for his death, but the paper map could have prevented the whole thing if if had the right info on it. I'm a map geek and every map ever printed has errors.
Well, in the example I cited about the GPS telling the driver to turn right where there WAS no road, that person would have died, too.
A mistake on a paper map led to the death of James Kim in Oregon a few years back. .......
Kim died because he drove past a sign that said "road closed for the winter" and around a bar across the road that said "road closed for the winter". Then when he got stuck, he tried to walk across country in the snow, instead of following the road back out.
And I think you are incorrect. I believe the Kim family was using GPS and not a paper map, although neither medium can protect you if you insist on driving past road closed signs and onto a snow covered road that has not been plowed. Neither paper or electronics can overcome Darwin when a person is terminal stupid and determined to die.
Just this winter, when the interstate highway was closed due to snow and ice, one of the GPS services was directing their members to try to bypass the highway on a dirt forest service road. The highway patrol spent the day, towing those people back out.
Seriously, if the interstate highway is closed due to weather what sort of stupid person thinks they can make it through on a narrow dirt road that has never been plowed and has 3 foot of snow on it? That is not entirely the GPS's fault. Some people turn on their electronics and turn off their brain.
Kim died because he drove past a sign that said "road closed for the winter" and around a bar across the road that said "road closed for the winter". Then when he got stuck, he tried to walk across country in the snow, instead of following the road back out.
And I think you are incorrect. I believe the Kim family was using GPS and not a paper map, although neither medium can protect you if you insist on driving past road closed signs and onto a snow covered road that has not been plowed. Neither paper or electronics can overcome Darwin when a person is terminal stupid and determined to die.
Just this winter, when the interstate highway was closed due to snow and ice, one of the GPS services was directing their members to try to bypass the highway on a dirt forest service road. The highway patrol spent the day, towing those people back out.
Seriously, if the interstate highway is closed due to weather what sort of stupid person thinks they can make it through on a narrow dirt road that has never been plowed and has 3 foot of snow on it? That is not entirely the GPS's fault. Some people turn on their electronics and turn off their brain.
Not that it is important but to correct this - they were using paper map actually official kind of map from the state. This map did show that road but apparently they didn't notice a little star sign there saying all roads are not accessible in all seasons. Also the gate was not locked and was open like the road was - looks like authorities had left it open for hunters or some such.
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