DigichelleJul 29, 2023

I have a fun story for y’all.

I was a 90s kid who grew up in the Los Angeles area. (I still live there.) Back in those days, we mere mortals didn’t have GPS. If we Angelinos wanted to find our way around, we relied on the good old Thomas Guide.

I didn’t drive back then, because I was a snot-nosed kid who could barely clear the “you need to be this tall to ride” sign at Disneyland. But my brother and I were entrusted with navigating for our mom. Both of us got really fucking good at it.

Show threadDigichelleJul 29, 2023

My extreme confidence navigating L.A.’s insane road network comes down to that childhood experience. GPS is great—even I rely on it from time to time. But if I had grown up with that, I don’t think I would’ve learned the roads as well as I did. There’s something about a paper map that today’s tech can’t quite replicate.

Adam Savage apparently agrees with me. He made a whole video where he waxed nostalgic about the Thomas Guide. It’s definitely worth a watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBbu49F930

The Magic of Paper Maps

YouTube
Show threadErikreadonly
@digichelle there is a part of the book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow where they talk about the hidden highway of LA. This makes me think of that!
Jul 29, 2023 at 2:30amWeb
Show threadDigichelleJul 29, 2023
@erikreadonly I’ve yet to read that, but now I want to. Thanks for the heads up!