-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: Map publishing news
Date:   Mon, 3 Jan 2011 10:31:22 -0600
From:   Nat Case <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship
<[log in to unmask]>



Ekrem, Russell, et al:

As part of a map publishing that is still in business, I'd say that what
has happened is that traditional map bread-and-butter lines (street
atlases, road atlases, etc)/are/ being heavily cut into by electronic
media. There will always be demand for these kinds of product, but the
quantities that used to sustain many companies comfortably simply aren't
there anymore.

But before you start hauling out your end-of-the-world hairshirt, bear
in mind that the broad market for retail maps in the USA is not
especially long-lived. Free (sponsored) maps dominated the marketplace
until around 1970, when the oil companies got out of the free-map
business. People/still/ want maps, and the question is how to pay for
them. Google does it via advertising, GPS does it by selling devices and
building map costs into the device or a subscription. We continue to
sell paper maps, and have added an ad-supported line to our business.
Our new street atlas includes a variety of thematic and almanac-like
information, as we see long-term value in a map-based reference book,
rather than strictly street-mapping information.

This is still very much a period of transition. Many of the businesses
that are no longer with us simply did not adapt to a changing
marketplace, or did not do so quickly enough. But there are a fair
number of us that are still doing OK. The challenge for those of us
remaining is to be inventive and smart and not rely on established
formats or sales and distribution channels to see us through the next 40
years.

--

Nat Case, Head of Production
*HEDBERG MAPS, INC.*
Creative Cartographic and Marketing Solutions

http://www.hedbergmaps.com
612-706-9686
1500 Jackson St NE, Suite 314
Minneapolis, MN 55413 USA