Amid GPS boom, paper maps hang on

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-07-03/road-maps-gps-travel/56007828/1

Used to be, Dad would stuff a half-dozen maps in the glove box before setting out with the family on a road trip to see the waterfalls at Yosemite or the granite faces of Mount Rushmore. Colorful maps bearing the logos of the oil companies that printed them — names like Texaco, Gulf, Esso — once brimmed from displays at filling stations, free for the taking.

But of the more than 35 million Americans expected to travel by car this Fourth of July, a good chunk will probably reach for technology before they're tempted to unfold — and in a tradition that used to bind Americans as tightly as a highway cloverleaf, try to refold — a paper road map.

Websites like MapQuest and Google Maps simplified trip planning. Affordable GPS devices and built-in navigation on smartphones downright transformed it — and transportation agencies around the country are noticing, printing fewer maps to cut department costs or just acknowledging that public demand is down.

Read More: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-07-03/road-maps-gps-travel/56007828/1

I still like " real " maps too!

Thanks for the post Sobore. The AP version that was floating around yesterday was not as complete.

Although the headline and the story are good, the article just does not really address the love and need that people today have for CURRENT PAPER MAPS. Fortunately, since I own a map store, I see it everyday.

I have GPS on my phone, but I also love having a real paper map with me when exploring. It's my security blanket for when I'm really lost.

The batteries never run out on my paper maps.
The other nice thing is my paper maps never spend time looking for satellites.
Maybe paper maps are the ‘new’ technology.

Before each trip the wife still goes by the AAA store to get the guidebook for the city that we're travelling to. These include paper maps, which are invaluable for nothing else than that confused tourist look that's so hot in today's Rick Steves' driven travel era.

A paper map has never lost a signal or asked me "when possible make a U Turn"

The overplanner in me

• Programs all of the routes into the GPS
• Prints the maps from Google/RandMcNally/MapQuest/etc.
• Brings the map book as well as any local paper maps I have of the journey

I like those local tourist maps as they point out places that standard maps or GPS do not.

Agree, some of the local maps have a ton of info. Not to mentions the maps you can pickup locally that have merchant coupons.

Paper maps are also incredibly helpful in cities that don't have the best in city designs when it comes to street placement. Bangkok comes to mind. Love the city but navigating is crazy.

I was navigating using paper charts this past Sunday. Much easier than programming a GPS while your boat is bobbing up and down.