Topographic
Mapping
According
to recent scientific results, we find our ways either by landmarks
or by internal maps. At least for those of us who navigate by internal
maps, also external maps are fascinating. They provide a variety
of information which can be used to get around. In the last years,
we had a boom in mapping software and online services. Unfortunately,
most of these products are exclusively designed to help us with
our preferred way of transportation: the automobile. For nature's
way of locomotion and for the planning of hiking trips and other
outdoors activities, we had to stick to old fashioned topographic
maps on paper, but even those are difficult to find.
Fortunately,
in the early 1990s, DeLorme decided to create a software version
of their popular "Atlas and Gazetteer" series, which was
called "Topo USA". After this product was astonishingly
successful, other companies followed. We hand-picked a few of the
best and compared the for you:
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