Trends in Internet and Ubiquitous Cartography

The widespread distribution of maps through the Internet is a direct result of the introduction of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. The mobile Web, enabled through cell phones, is now creating an even more ubiquitous map form. These methods of map distribution facilitate greater access to spatial information, increased levels of interactivity with maps, real-time locational information, and greater integration of multimedia content through pictures, sound, and video. While normally not networked, GPS navigation devices have also changed the map-use landscape. Examined here are the current trends in online- and cell-phone-delivered maps