Aug 28 2008
President of the British Cartographic Society Blasts Web Maps
Corporate cartographers demolishing history Royal Geographical Society Told
Internet maps are often inconsistent and inaccurate says Mary Spence, President of 
the British Cartographic Society . As an examples, Ms. Spence told the Telegraph that a Google map of central Worcester does not show the cathedral and another internet map of Tewkesbury does not show the Abbey. Ms. Spence made the comments at the Royal Geographical Society ’s annual conference in London.
According to the Telegraph Ms. Spence went on to blast "second rate" internet maps some more:
"Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history – not to mention Britain’s remarkable geography – at a stroke by not including them on maps which millions of us now use every day," she said. "We’re in real danger of losing what makes maps so unique; giving us a feel for a place even if we’ve never been there."
Ms Spence said reliance on "sat nav" and i-phones to find destinations not only missed out places of interest but mean children do not know how to map read.
"I think there is a danger children are losing skills because adults are being exposed to mapping that is a second rate product," she said. said the ubiquitous sat nav in cars means people now concentrate only on going from A to B without noticing where they are or how they got there.
As a result the whereabouts of the thousands of churches, ancient woodlands, stately homes and eccentric landmarks which make up the rich tapestry of the British landscape could disappear from public consciousness.
Ms. Spence said the increasing reliance on technoloy has left people needlessly scared of maps and left children without basic navigational skills.
Google’s View
Not surprisingly, Ed Parsons, geospatial technologist at Google has a different view. He told the Telegraph that the internet would not lead to the death of the paper map:
"People who are into walking and hiking will always understand [traditional maps] but if you just want to find your way to a new pub you do not need to know how to read those maps."
Mr. Parsons told the Telegraph that the internet is democratizing maps and that we are moving towards a future where interactive maps will display precisely the information people want, when they want it, allowing anyone to create their own maps.
See also:
3 Responses to “President of the British Cartographic Society Blasts Web Maps”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
[...] GeoCarta: President of the British Cartographic Society Blasts Web Maps [...]
As an Atheist, I don’t give a fig about churches and abbeys. So, Google’s maps are BETTER from my point of view.
[...] n the ongoing debate over the relevance of paper maps, self-described “complete gadget geek” Jacinta Lodge [...]