Lab 3 - Neogeography

View The Relatively Essential Road Trips for a College student in a larger map

With the advent of continually developing technology, access to a wide variety of data has become more convenient. With this available data in rapid development, the way we approach maps has also changed. The coevolution of mapping technology and user interface development have allowed anyone to create their own quirky maps and perhaps share with other people. Neotechnology, has, in effect, combined a relatively complex tool and simplified it, allowing anyone direct access to a powerful tool without prior knowledge/understanding of the system. While this may be a convenience it has also become a crutch in our understanding of the world. As a population, we become more and more dependent on such simple tools in order to live a simpler life. The development of dynamic maps are beginning to replace the traditional paper maps once used by our predecessors, while this may simplify route planning, our demand for such types of maps increase, creating unrealistic expectations for these simple tools.

In addition to raising our expectations to an unrealistic level, tools such as google maps are being underrated as a geographical tool. no longer do people pay attention to the factual information reported by a standardized party (USGS) on a paper map, instead, we pay attention to the miscellaneous details that are provided by the dynamic maps - which aren't provided by USGS, but by everyday individuals. This distorts the facts of certain map features and causes us to overlook such important details. We simply see destinations as more of a point to point journey, locating a fast food restaurant on a road trip is no longer an exploration, rather, it's a simple process of following orders given by a third party through the use of dynamic maps. In essence, while dynamic mapping and its accessibility has given us a tool to relate our desires to locales on a map, we tend to become ignorant of the other features maps may offer.