Reflections on map tech
June 27, 2014 Today as I was updating one of my safe cloud backups from before my 2011 travels— when I had a huge hard drive and everything was on it — I came upon a folder called Travel. In it were PDFs of MapQuest maps, a couple of bus routes, etc. I remember making those PDFs 10+ years earlier. I’d added my own text to the map image and was quite impressed by how great the technology was and how easy it was to simply email that map to anyone, anytime rather than phoning them and making them write down turn-by-turn instructions and landmarks. They’re gone now; deleted. We don’t use those things anymore, now that the iPhone came along and ushered the era of the smartphone with built-in GPS. Need a map now? Use Apple or Google maps, and in case you’ll be off-line, capture a screen shot […]