Lab 2a

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Neogeography

There are many benefits and pitfalls to neogeography. In this generation of Global Positioning Satellites a lot of people never learned how to correctly use or for that matter even read a map. The concept of a Compass Rose is foreign to many people my own age and it is not their fault. Why would they ever have need to learn these things if they never have to use them. Neogeography is bringing renewed interest to maps. Maps now have a new fun and useful application that is relevant to the real world. Perhaps in the future neogeography will be merged with GPS technology more so than it is now and people will again forget about maps.

There are also negatives to neogeography. Part of what I find fun about being in a new place where some body I know lives is exploring on my own and just seeing the world they come from. The exploration and adventure aspect of being in a new place is completely lost when every place I might want to go is indicated on the map. I would rather stumble upon some hole-in-the-wall coffee joint than have the nearest Starbucks picked out for me. Neogeography has the potential to take the excitement out of traveling.