Try and remember a world without Google Maps …. I’ll give you a minute …. it’s harder than you might think. It’s been with us for less than a decade but has become an integral part of so many people’s lives it can be hard to think of life without it.
Maps are a hugely powerful tool. They have been with us for millennia in many varying and wonderful shapes, forms and sizes. They have allowed mankind to view the earth from a vantage point that it has, until relatively recently, been impossible to attain and they can have a palpable effect of people’s emotions.
As a map librarian I have been fortunate enough to see first hand some of the greatest works of cartography and how they chart the level of understanding we have of the world we live in.
In this role I am often asked about Google Maps, usually in hushed tones by those who think I will decry it as the death knell warning of the destruction of all the “good” and “proper” mapping that has come before it.
But this is not how I see it. I see it as opportunity and excitement, as a key part of the next major stage in the world of mapping.
If you follow the history of cartography you will see the styles, designs and uses of maps have changed continuously as new technology has become available. It is a field that has always seen advancement towards greater degrees of accuracy, whether geographic or thematic, and depiction of information.
Online digital mapping is merely the next chapter in this history and while Google Maps are certainly not the only player – Openstreetmap, Ordnance Surveyand Apple to name a few, are all worthy and interesting alternatives – they are the best known and widely adapted digital map platform.
I’m excited about the future that these maps will bring. Some benefits to traditional mapping are well highlighted in this interview with David Rumsey:
But I am sure there is more to come. Google Maps is now much more than the route finder of its early days. It can be adapted by its users in an ever increasing number of ways, building layers of data that can be manipulated and analysed to provide a wealth of information.
The number of users is increasing. The tools they are using are becoming simpler and faster and the maps they are producing are ever more interesting and complex. Digital mapping is heading to its next level and I’m sure Google will be at the centre of that.
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Love your image- makes it clear that Street View isn’t really a new invention!
Definitely! Birds-eye style mapping has been around for a long long time. The image is an extract from Braun & Hogenberg’s 1575 plan of Cambridge.