From Waze to paper: How GPS failures are reviving printed maps in Israel
From Waze to paper: How GPS failures are reviving printed maps in Israel
Wartime disruptions force drivers to rediscover the reliability of traditional road atlases.
In an ironic twist, the rhetorical question so prevalent in the last decade, "What would we do without Waze?" is now being answered in the difficult circumstances of the war. If there is no reception, and if GPS is disrupted for war purposes, making it impossible to use Waze north of Hadera without being led to Beirut, we revert to the age of paper. The war has driven many people back to using printed maps, so much so that the demand has surged in recent months, leading to certain atlases and map books selling out in bookstores, with publishers printing more editions.
"Reservists call me from the field asking for maps," says Ofer Menashes, CEO of Mapa, a map publishing company that prints road atlases. "At the beginning of the war, we donated what we had in stock to several units, and since then, our books have sold out in stores. All the distributors contacted us to replenish inventory because of high demand. That's what we did—we updated the maps and reissued all the atlases: the Golden Atlas, Intercity Road Atlas, and Mini-Atlas."
Mapa Publishing, acquired by Ituran eight years ago, today specializes mainly in databases and digital maps but still publishes some atlases and printed maps. "We specialize in geographic databases of the State of Israel, including roads, streets, house numbers, traffic lights, and travel directions," Menashes says. "Maps are constantly being updated, and many companies rely on our databases. Government ministries, security forces, and other organizations work with us."
In recent years, before the war, how was the demand for map books?
"There were still people who bought atlases for orientation purposes and to better understand the broad picture of a certain area, which doesn't always fit on a mobile screen."
At Shvil Net, a company that also publishes terrain maps, they recently completed nationwide coverage of Israel with 23 maps by region. The company specializes in digital maps but also publishes printed maps, and reports that demand for them has increased in recent months.
"People bought maps because of GPS problems; we even had a discounted sale for reserve units," says Itai Porat, CEO of Shvil Net.
What are the differences between road maps and terrain maps?
"On a road map, the parameters are mainly villages and cities, roads, and their numbers. On terrain maps, the scale is much more detailed because you have to include features like car roads, walking paths, bicycle paths, springs, lookouts, pits, archaeological sites, topography, fire area boundaries, nature reserves, etc. There are many details in these maps. It's a product that's less accessible to people who don't know how to read such maps, but it also includes roads and towns.
"The scale of road maps is usually 1:250,000, while our terrain maps are between 1:25,000 and 1:50,000. One piece of paper covers less area, so we need many maps. We now have 23 paper maps that cover all of Israel. We had 17 maps, but recently we released six more maps that completed the national coverage. Of course, we have everything available digitally, but when there are problems with the location marker, and there are GPS disturbances, or the phone doesn't always have battery or reception, then it's convenient to use a paper map."
The Steimatzky chain reports a significant increase in demand for road atlases. The stock was sold out, and there was a shortage for a certain period until publishers began new printings. "Since the beginning of the year, we've seen a great demand for maps and atlases due to the disruptions throughout the country, especially in the north," says Itzik Shilo, a VP at Steimatzky’s. "Mapa publishing, currently the only map publisher in Israel, has started printing new editions. At one time, there were two publishing houses that specialized in maps: the old Karta and Mapa Publishing. Karta, following a significant drop in demand, ceased operations. Mapa continued because it expanded into digital operations. Before the war, over the last few years, atlases were sold in very low quantities. Suddenly, demand has surged, and I estimate that it has already reached tens of thousands of copies. We also receive inquiries from many security organizations, including the IDF, MDA, police, and ZAKA, who want to make centralized purchases to distribute maps to people in the field."
