Re:Paper Map Sales Are Booming
by bee_rider on Monday January 23, 2023 @12:00PM
(#34491552)
I think people could re-learn they skill pretty quickly, but putting that aside, I wonder how well we could do with just ground based stuff. We’d still have triangulation via cell towers, which was widely used not that long ago. Also I wonder how well we could do with a modern cellphone using image recognition on the road signs paired with a really accurate map of the roads.
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Great idea!
Old marine maps had various landmarks on them, along with their height. This allowed you to get angle and distance, giving you the opportunity to calculate position with pen and paper even if you only had a single landmark in view.
Not just old marine maps -- modern marine charts have the same. They mark radio towers, grain silos, etc. because although GPS is widely-used, the old navigation techniques are still important.
Re:Paper Map Sales Are Booming
by Turing_Machine on Monday January 23, 2023 @06:03PM
(#34496360)
I believe the U.S. Naval Academy actually stopped teaching old school celestial navigation for a while, then someone with a bit of common sense realized that there were scenarios (particularly in a war situation) where the GPS constellation might not be available, and started teaching it again.
You can't just pull over at a gas station in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and ask for directions. :-)