Why people more interest on web mapping

Why people more interest on web mapping

Ever since the invention of the Internet, it has been an attractive medium for the publication of maps because of the many advantages maps published via the Internet hold over their traditional paper map counterparts. Among these advantages are that they are usually cheaper and less time-intensive to produce, easier to distribute to a wide audience and easier to update and maintain. They also allow for the possibility of interactivity (e.g., the ability to change scales and turn layers on/off) and connections to related information though hyperlinks. One could also argue that Internet-based maps have increased public awareness and demand for maps.

While it's tempting to think that Internet-based maps are preferable to paper maps in every way, that's certainly not the case. Perhaps the most obvious disadvantage of Internet-based maps is that they require access to the Internet. Even if we someday have a world in which access to the Internet is ubiquitous, Internet-based maps are vulnerable to problems of servers and networks going down and long download times. Paper maps also hold a distinct resolution advantage — 1200-3400 dots per inch (DPI) versus 65-120 DPI on a digital display. Additionally, producing a map and publishing it on the web requires a very different skill set than producing and publishing a paper map. Finally, the advantage of wider dissemination can at the same time be a disadvantage when issues of privacy arise.