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| Yes | 51% | 350 votes | Total: 680 votes | |
| No | 49% | 330 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWill GPS replace maps? Yes, and it will largely be because of electronic ink. Imagine feeling like Ferdinand Magellan when you whip a scroll from your jacket's breast pocket. You unfurl it like a miniature window shade and ask, "Where am I?" The color screen (electronic ink will have evolved to color by this point) comes to life and a little two-dimensional world revolves and zooms in on your exact position like a scene from Google Earth. Your spouse swoons and the techno-geeks standing nearby are filled with intrigue and envy as if you were 'tweeting' from your iPhone in 2009.
"Would you like to see an aerial photo of our current location?" You ask as you try to hold back a self-exalting smirk.
You can almost hear the naysayers crowing, "Never! What about batteries and that cell tower dead spot between Montreal and the Yukon?" We all can concede their points are valid. No, we will never be without maps. There will always be the one Christopher Columbus penned and the ones they sell on Hollywood Blvd. showing the exact location of Abe Vigoda's villa. No wait, you could probably Google Abe's house on the scroll. The larger point is if you are not running the Iditarod you probably can use the electronic scroll.
You may ask, "What technological barriers stand between us and this magical device?" E-Ink's co-founder Russ Wilcox (E-Ink is the world leader in electronic ink) has said, "At the end of 2010, you will start to see improvements in the ink. We will have a whiter white and a blacker black, and we will start to experiment with color. You will probably see 2011 be the year of color." To which the skeptic might reply, "But, Russ, really the Amazon Kindle's screen refreshes so slow I can trim my hedges between pages." Mr. Wilcox says the speed will increase to an almost imperceptible rate by 2011/2012.
The longest time horizon for the rosy scenario printed here is for the flexible display. It may be five, ten or maybe fifteen years out. Even if you have to carry around an e-reader like the Kindle with a 12-inch screen, it has to be better than the two-foot tall atlases they are peddling at Wal-Mart.
So until the scroll comes to market, we will all have to bide our time either listening to the Kate Winslet-ish voice tell us to take the next left' or listen to our spouse tell us the resolution on the $5 atlas is not good enough to tell where we are. Either way, you can bet there is a service station employee weeping somewhere, desperately hoping someone will stop in and ask for directions to the nearest Crabtree and Evelyn.
Learn more about this author, P. Clifford.
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No
The very question of whether or not GPS will replace conventional maps reveals several biases that I often find on Helium. These biases are to be expected but we still need to be aware of them when we respond to the questions. The biases are one of wealth, desire, and a lack of functionality checks.
The question ignores the reality of wealth in the world today. While Americans in the USA and Canada and much of Europe can afford GPS technology, most of the world's population cannot. Therefore those people must rely upon conventional maps or even traditional means of finding locations such as using landmarks. I'm not talking about financial wealth only though that is a factor - you have to be able to afford to pay the monthly fee for GPS in your car or buy a service or a device. Not even every person in the wealthy nations can afford those at this time.
Wealth is also a matter of technology and energy. It is very easy sitting at my desk in my well-lit, heated office, typing on my computer to remember that once again the majority of the Earth's population does not have such luxury. We might think of them as necessities but in fact technology of this degree is really still a luxury. If you do not have access to the technology obviously you cannot use it and therefore you need conventional and traditional maps.
Energy is required for most of this technology, even GPS which can run on batteries or through your car's engines. While we may think that energy is plentiful most of the resources we use are limited both in terms of quantity and in terms of efficiency. We in the USA complain all the time about the price of energy but frankly we are very spoiled; most nations' citizen pay a lot more.
This energy issue is one also of the functionality checks. A paper map or a description of a location via landmarks does not require as much ongoing use of energy. What happens if you lose power and all you have is a GPS? Are you going to just sit or stand there and wait around to be found? Do you think your boss or spouse will buy that as an excuse when you miss a meeting or an event? You'll need a back up means of getting where you need to go so relying only on GPS means you are not a very good planner. Poor planning may result in loss of income, relationship or even life depending on the circumstances.
Imagin e though that energy and technology are not a problem. There still ignores the fact that some people will simply not want to rely upon GPS. When we travel, we use maps as well as the GPS my partner owns. Neither of us trusts the GPS and feel we need another source of information. However we also know that road work and weather can change which roads you can use at any given time. Thus not only do we think it is unwise to only use GPS but we also know it is unwise to fully trust the map. We keep our eyes open and watch for any changes and information. My husband also has a great sense of direction and we have a compass to help out, again just in case.
This probably reflect our concerns about the purpose of GPS and maps. Their function is as an aid to finding how to get from where you are to where you want or need to be. If you are serious about getting to anywhere you need to be prepared for all possible problems or barriers in your way. This means using a variety of means to find your way both GPS, paper maps, and previous experience traveling a route.
The simple fact is that it is impossible for one piece of technology to overcome all of these potential problems. Using GPS can indeed be useful but the idea that it replaces conventional maps and traditional means of finding locations is unrealistic. Of course, sadly, human beings love to make unrealistic plans and suffer as a consequences.
Learn more about this author, Tammyjo Eckhart.
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