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A. It will improve your travel experiences. B. But don't hurry to fold up your paper maps. C. They also had a poorer recollection of surrounding scenery. D. Compared with digital maps, paper maps do have disadvantages. E. What's more, paper maps tend to focus on smaller geographic areas. F. They can also take you back in time to have a glimpse (瞥) of history. G. In other words, they didn't see or experience much during their travels. |
Whether you use a GPS device (设备) in your car or Google Maps on your smartphone, few of us travel anymore without digital help. For one thing, GPS isn't as accurate as you might think. What's more, science is beginning to discover that people who rely only on navigational technologies may have a poor sense of place during travel.
They soon become outdated as cities change, requiring users to continually purchase updated versions. They're also easily damaged from exposure to water, poor weather conditions and other physical forces.
However, paper maps still offer a few advantages that technologies can't. For example, studying a map allows you to get a full view of where you're going, including the roads, forests, towns, historic sites, rivers and mountains you'll come across along the way. Many older maps are wonderful, offering a lovely feast for the eyes.
Research by Toru Ishikawa and colleagues at the University of Tokyo found that GPS users spent 30％ more time looking at their device than those who used a paper map. Instead they tended to stare at their screens and follow directions, never gaining a full view of where they were going.
Therefore, go ahead and use your GPS, but also carry a paper map as a handy backup. Also it could even be a life-saver!
