The Internet is killing maps?
U.S. Library of Congress Mary Spence, president of the British Cartographic Society, says that Google Maps and GPS are destroying traditional map-reading skills. “Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history – not to mention Britain’s remarkable geography – at a stroke by not including them on maps which millions of us now use ...
U.S. Library of CongressMary Spence, president of the British Cartographic Society, says that Google Maps and GPS are destroying traditional map-reading skills. "Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history – not to mention Britain's remarkable geography – at a stroke by not including them on maps which millions of us now use every day," she said. "We're in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique; giving us a feel for a place even if we've never been there."
Mary Spence, president of the British Cartographic Society, says that Google Maps and GPS are destroying traditional map-reading skills.
“Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history – not to mention Britain’s remarkable geography – at a stroke by not including them on maps which millions of us now use every day,” she said. “We’re in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique; giving us a feel for a place even if we’ve never been there.”
No disrespect to Spence but this is luddite nonsense. The Internet is about the best thing to happen to geography nerds since the sextant and anyone who’s ever wasted hours flying around the world on Google Earth did so specifically to get a feel for a place they’ve never been.
As readers of this blog know from our weekly “Tuesday Map” feature, computer graphics and the interactivity of the Internet are allowing people to do new and fascinating things with maps every day. How could any development that lets cycling fans take a virtual Tour de France from their desks or allows activists to publicize a Tiananmen massacre map of Beijing possibly be negative? These posts are typically among our most popular so I’m not too worried about the public losing interest in cartography.
This is one aspect of modern life that I’m more than happy to see googlized.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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