Are Paper Maps still relevant in a Digital World?

Who still uses Paper Maps?

This question is asked frequently when telling people about Get Mapped. The answer is that many people still do.

Those who enjoy bushwalking, 4WDing, cycling, gold prospecting, fishing and others require the detail that paper maps provide which give a lot more information than you will find using your phone GPS. Granted, the ability to locate where you are is a great tool to have where ever you go, and being guided in real time to help navigate from point A to B is so much easier than trying to follow a map or driving from memory... trying to recall which roads to turn down, counting the streets to find your destination, or looking for landmarks to make turns at after looking up your journey on a map or street directory beforehand. However, your entire journey is restricted to the size of your phone, tablet or computer screen and shows you the major roads you will take, a couple of city, suburb, or town names and alternative routes. If you compare this to opening up a paper map and spreading it out across the table or bonnet, everyone can get involved and see what else is along that journey, whether it be a drink station, waterfall. campground, school, shopping centre, sporting complex, zoological gardens, airport, or lake is dependent on the scale of the map, the area it covers, and the distance you plan on travelling. Ask yourself, how many of these features do you see on your screen, unless you zoom right in, and lose the context of how far along your path before these places are?

Taking a vacation to a big city, a country town, the beachside, outback, mountains, or overseas and you arrive at your destination, I will argue that most of you would want to grab a map of where you are staying to see what is around you... attractions, natural features, buildings of significance etc. This may well be a free map that you pick up from the Tourist Information Centre or Reception Desk but these still only give a small snapshot an a A3 (usually) sized piece of paper. Lager maps showing greater detail, maybe some photos and information may also be available to help plan your journey before you even book your tickets. Again, some may be free while others might need to be purchased.

To be continued...