Maps are not just for those who love travelling. Maps are used by people to find their way in any environment or city. They can be used as a tool for navigation and orientation. In this article, we will be Comparing Digital Maps Vs Paper Maps.
With the digital era we live in, maps have become an app that we can access on our phones. With this change, map-makers can now take advantage of cutting-edge technology like 3D mapping and augmented reality. This has caused a major shift in how we interact with maps.
The battle between Digital Maps Vs Paper maps is about to end soon; it’s time to make the transition from paper to digital!
Comparing Digital Maps Vs Paper Maps
Paper maps are considered an outdated technology. Digital maps are quickly becoming the norm. This is because digital maps are more accurate, interactive, and offer much more information than paper maps. Let’s check some of the advantages and disadvantages or Paper Maps Vs Digital Maps:
Advantages And Disadvantages of Paper Maps
- Can Access Offline: One of the major advantages of paper maps is that they can be consulted even when there is no signal or internet connection.
- Expensive & Required Physical Space: They cost money and require a lot of storage space.
- Extra Care Required: if the map gets wet, it will become unreadable and unusable.
- Need To Bought Physically: You need to buy paper maps from local stores and cost money compared to digital maps. They also require a lot of resources to produce – from paper and ink to water and electricity.
- Map reading skills are required to correctly interpret symbols on paper maps.
- Paper Maps are difficult to update regularly, as this required more time and money. This can be problematic when roads change or buildings are demolished and so on, as the maps do not reflect such changes.
- Paper maps are static.
- Paper maps only show features as 2D objects.
- Paper maps are used along with Compass for navigation and directions.
- Provide more detail and research than digital maps.
Advantages And Disadvantages of Digital Maps
- Digital Maps can be consulted for free. They are also sold at stores but still, you can download these from the internet for free.
- Digital Storage Required: They do not take up any space, can be stored on electronic devices.
- Digital Maps can also be updated with ease.
- Internet Connection Required To access Online Digital maps.
- Easily searchable: A digital map is a map displayed on a digital device. It is usually interactive, with the user able to zoom in and out of different parts of the map, typically by stretching the screen’s image with two fingers.
- Dynamic in nature – Digital maps are dynamic in nature because they need to change with time due to changes in the physical world.
- Digital maps may not require map reading skills as features are shown as real-life objects.
- Features can be shown as 2D or 3D objects.
- GPS can be used with digital maps for navigation.
- Presents information in a clear, concise fashion that is easily digestible with different levels of detail.
Conclusion:
Users are in a position to better decide in favour of one type of map over the other in the future, as the usage of both types of maps will continue to grow. With the advent of digital maps, paper maps are becoming obsolete.
However, some people still prefer paper maps over digital ones for various reasons. For example, when you do not have any cell phone signal or WiFi connection available.