Mapping a Path to the Future

Maps used to be free, on paper, and given away at gas stations. They showed you where roads went.

But that is an antiquated and narrow perception of what maps do. That is becoming more and more apparent in the Internet Age.

Google has become dominant in the world of online maps. But there are independent competitors. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What do we use maps for?

•What can digital maps do that paper maps can't?

•Can maps invade our privacy? How?

•Is there power in being the main supplier of online maps? What power?

•Where is the profit in online maps?