I think most folks know I’m a Roadgeek. After all, I do the “California Highways” page. What got me into this was maps. I used to collect maps, back in the days when gas stations gave them away for free. I have memories of getting maps from Flying A, Texaco, Standard, Shell, Mobil, Richfield, and many others. I certainly have a large number of auto club maps. I could spend hours just reading the maps. I have no interest in photographing signs, or even driving the roads. But reading the maps, determining where the roads go and where they went — that interests me.
Thus, I felt distinctly sad when I read today that CSAA (the Northern California AAA) is closing it’s cartography division. CSAA will still provide paper maps to members, but they will be produced by AAA headquarters in Florida. There won’t be teams of roving mapmakers, ensuring that the local information is correct and complete. This leaves the Auto Club of Southern California as the only regional AAA still producing their own maps.
What killed the cartographer? Digital maps. GPS devices. Even I admit to an addiction to Google Maps: I’ll just find somewhere and go and wander. But it’s not the same as the joy I get from a Thomas Brothers mapbook or a good road atlas. Just as Amazon is very different than browsing in the bookstore, digital maps just aren’t the same thing.
Am I just a luddite (wouldn’t surprise me)? Are paper maps passe? Do you still use and treasure your paper maps?
