Frazz by Jef Mallett for March 22, 2021

…and a book with everyone’s address and phone number. Who’da thunk?

Yeah, of COURSE he would never do anything like that. That’s why he thought of telling us that.

At last he sees the light of an atlas!

If you drove long distances before God reached adulthood, you carried multiples of those, especially those that magnified the area of your destination. Those were the days with no GPS computer to send you down the wrong road.

Always liked the world map with the south pole on the top

I LOVE paper maps — some of the best adventures start with getting lost.

In order for the state to continue to receive federal transportation funds It has to meet the 2009 mandate to use milepost-based exit numbers. The state recently completed updating a section of highway that I often travel. It took Google Maps a week to update the exit numbers. (I know the way but use the app to know if I’m going to be late and have to make a call) But that’s faster than getting new maps printed.

Being able to read a map exercises the brain in a unique way.

Street view doesn’t reach into backyards. And if you hang your skivvies in the front yard, well now you’re advertising.

Whatever app he’s using, he’s seeing some really old laundry. It is a handy tool, but it doesn’t update some areas very often and yet still shows a current copyright date for every panel. On the other hand, one app has recognized that many of the complaints by users abut the accuracy of suggested routes were clearly legitimate and has asked for consumer input. Way past time.

Example, we traveled to VA Beach for a wedding. The shortest recommended route actually took us to the gates of a military base where armed sentries took my license and held it until I turned the car around to head out. I truly appreciated that move. I wrote them but never got even an automated reply.

I love paper maps. Ken Jennings Map Heads is a great read. My intro to Geo caching.

I LOVE PAPER MAPS. I used hell out of online maps also but . . . you know, for in the woods or on the highways, I always have paper maps.

More accurate than GPS!

I’m impressed that the kid can hold the atlas out at arms’ length. Those things are HEAVY!

I dry everything on my clothesline.

There is something pleasant about paper maps, but I can’t think of a single way that they’re pragmatically better.

My neighbour cut down 6 of my trees, thanks to Street View I have proof where they were.

A kid after me’ own heart!! Also, love many of these comments …… thought I was the only one who gets satisfaction frpm holding and reading a paper map! (Guess I’m too self-centered!!…. thanks!)

I used to play a Streetview scavenger hunt game, and that was once one of the things we had to find.

One thing I really still like about paper maps is that the resolution doesn’t change as you increase the view. I need a bigger table maybe – but if I’m looking at a region for a new house and trying to figure out how many routes I have to get into work – I can trace streets across what would be digital page boundaries. I’m sure if I had a gigantic monitor I could do the same – but I’m not rich enough to have a monitor the same size as my dining room table.

I really miss my old Thomas Guide . . .

For those who haven’t plumbed the depths of Google views, we have to laugh when we are out on the street taking pictures and some outraged person runs out to demand to know if their house was in the photo and so on. We try to explain that, not only does Google’s streetview let you see everyone’s house seemingly everywhere as seen from the street, but Google’s satellite photos let people look in from all sides, so if you have something to hide (there are drug dealers, etc, in our area), it isn’t old folks who like to take pictures you need to fear. We looked at our own home from space, and could even see inside our garage if the garage door was open, even though the blank wall of the building next door would keep anyone on any of the surrounding streets from having such a view. Amazing!

When the electronic maps came out, we were amused to see how often they tried to get us to drive through a building, etc, to get where we were going. Still prefer a paper map when traveling. :)

Thieves much prefer street view to an atlas.

I have a collection of TOPO maps, of the Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave, you have to know what Transverse Mercators are , how to read the elevation lines, latitude and longitude, I also keep a set of road maps for the cities in the county, you can get a whole view and have a good idea where you are relative to other location, unlike that little screen on your phone.