Delorme shifts away from mapping

To date I haven't seen any electronic database that can match the updated delorme gazateers for cruising around in the backwoods. as good as sat maps are fro some purposes, those little symbols for bridge out or gate on the atlas pages really make a difference.


http://bangordailynews.com/2013/10/...ays-off-10-as-focus-shifts-away-from-mapping/

“We’re continuing a transition from a traditional provider of mapping products to a satellite-enabled communications and data-delivery company".

Doesn't suggest they're diminishing their mapping products. Just changing how they are presented.

Used Google Maps/Google Earth on your smartphone lately? Pretty amazing stuff. Those are the tools people, especially younger people are using. If you can't/won't provide your product in that environment, you'll lose your business.

My comments may provoke the usual "I'd rather slit my wrists than use a smartphone in the woods" outcry. Sobeit. Luddites of the World Unite/Join the Tea Party/Whatever.

Moved to General B'country. Of interest to all.

Kevin Rooney said:

My comments may provoke the usual "I'd rather slit my wrists than use a smartphone in the woods" outcry. Sobeit. Luddites of the World Unite/Join the Tea Party/Whatever.

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I love my iPhone and covet the new wrist phone. But in the backcountry, I enjoy unplugging from society; no phone or GPS for me thanks.

So I think a distinction can be made between enjoying technology on an everyday basis while shunning it whenhiking.

I do have a PRB buried in the pack but that is for my spouse's peace of mind.

how many times do we really need to look at the map ? read the map before the trip, maybe look at it if i am camping overnight, but definitely to have it in case of emergency. Hiking in the Northeast is easy. The rest of the time reading a map is for entertainment.

Yes maps are entertainment and also ways to dream and plan trips. This is especially so with the shortening daylight as we go into winter. While New England is straight forward, I like to spread large paper maps across the kitchen table to plan the winter's and next summers trips beyond the NE. The Torngat in Labrador have sparked my interest. The gps/electronic maps just don't cut it for dreaming.

I enjoy our Macs, iPad, n iPhones; yet, I also enjoy working out my Map n Compass skill set. Better to mess up using a Map n Compass in the easy Northeast than someplace where the electronics crap out n not be able to adjust to the buggy whip technology.

Kevin Rooney said:

“We’re continuing a transition from a traditional provider of mapping products to a satellite-enabled communications and data-delivery company".

Doesn't suggest they're diminishing their mapping products. Just changing how they are presented.

Used Google Maps/Google Earth on your smartphone lately? Pretty amazing stuff. Those are the tools people, especially younger people are using. If you can't/won't provide your product in that environment, you'll lose your business.

My comments may provoke the usual "I'd rather slit my wrists than use a smartphone in the woonds" outcry. Sobeit. Luddites of the World Unite/Join the Tea Party/Whatever.

Click to expand...

Well don't trust Google maps in desert areas. Some ‘roads' are nothing but washes, and others have been bisected by new railroad tracks with the crossings removed. I truly think they are using software algorithms and photography to deal with the many unnamed roads in the Mojave, for example.

Remix said:

Well don't trust Google maps in desert areas. Some ‘roads' are nothing but washes, and others have been bisected by new railroad tracks with the crossings removed. I truly think they are using software algorithms and photography to deal with the many unnamed roads in the Mojave, for example.

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I don't trust Google anywhere. In my experience using their directions, most have had a significant error. Yahoo directions are far more reliable and I assume it is in Google's maps that the errors occur.

As for GPS ... I now have one which came with my car ... a Navteq system which, admittedly, hasn't been updated in a few years but on each of the occasions I've tried to use it, it had misleading directions. I'll take my maps any day over these experiences.

DeLorme, on the other hand, offers something special with their PN 60w ... anyone have any experience with that? It seems like the best of both worlds of satellite navigation combined with communication. All kinds of potential in that and I can see where DeLorme is heading with the technology.

I don't think they'll do away with paper maps ... with technology it takes fewer people to improve them and keep them up to date. They have done away with some maps that were popular at one time but I think it was a matter of duplication of material by other mapmakers and the limited market these maps served.

I'd expect them to offer update subscriptions with their gazetteers and find imaginative ways to link the paper with the electronics. No way I would want to rely on an electronic device alone.

Delorme hasn't really been a 'local' player for at least 10 years. They try to play on the global level against Garmin and such. I'm sure the major portion of the BOD could care less about the Gazeteers.

It's too bad. Most of my adult life I have spend with Delorme Atlas at home and in my car. But, perhaps there will be another local player stepping in to fill the void when/if Delorme loosens their focus further.

No matter what front end is used, the quality of the underlying dataset is what drives accurate navigation. I am not sure how Delorme did it but their rural database of private and FS roads and their current condition were second to none. The US census updates roads with populations, but once you get on the private roads in Maine or NH that's where Delorme gazateers were worth it, plus they included hiking trails and trailheads.

Remix said:

Well don't trust Google maps in desert areas. Some ‘roads' are nothing but washes, and others have been bisected by new railroad tracks with the crossings removed. I truly think they are using software algorithms and photography to deal with the many unnamed roads in the Mojave, for example.

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You can't trust any maps in remote desert areas, whether the information is presented by Delorme, Google, Garmin, whatever. I lived in the northwestern corner of the Upper Mojave for 7 years. The Mojave is HUGE - more than 5 times the size of New Hampshire, with numerous mountain ranges with many peaks in the 10K+ range as well as the lowest point on the planet. That some 150 year-old mine had a road to it, and the mine was abandoned before 1900 is common. But, the road may still appear on maps.

In the High Desert (what Californian's call the Mojave, as the Low Desert is the Sonoran) I learned not to travel off-road unless you're in a convoy with at least one other similarly equipped vehicle, i.e., 4x4, high clearance rigs with low-range and preferable limited slip differentials. It's just no place to get stranded/breakdown if you're alone.

Kevin Rooney said:

That some 150 year-old mine had a road to it, and the mine was abandoned before 1900 is common. But, the road may still appear on maps.

In the High Desert (what Californian's call the Mojave, as the Low Desert is the Sonoran) I learned not to travel off-road unless you're in a convoy with at least one other similarly equipped vehicle, i.e., 4x4, high clearance rigs with low-range and preferable limited slip differentials. It's just no place to get stranded/breakdown if you're alone.

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Good advice but I'd point out that out in the drier West, some roads do last for centuries unless they're blown away or wiped out in a flash flood, in which cases you might find the other end of what's missing. Mid 19th centry trails west are still visible in places and the worse obliteration has occurred where there has been development. The dry climate preserves a lot which in our boreal forest soon composts and grows over.

Heed the caution of the reliability of maps and be prepared to use every trick in the navigation book. One such area I hope to explore is the Red Desert and Continental Divide Basins in Wyoming (some unique geologic formations, wild horse herds, survivors of an ancient bison herd, and plenty of antelope) and though I might not be in a caravan, I'd have an extra spare tire, extra gas, spare parts for some essential repairs and a satellite phone to call AAA! ... sorry, this talk of maps just gets me all excited!