Hasta La Gadget!

Map 2 is a folding paper map of Greater London, with a twist (or rather, with a fold): You can zoom in.

Electronic maps, like those from Google, are better than paper in many ways. You can search, zoom, get directions and carry a whole planet’s worth of cartography in your pocket. However, you still need a battery and an internet connection.

Map 2 incorporates one new feature from its electronic successor: zooming. It unfolds from a little square into a bigger, four-sectioned overview of the city-center. Any of these four quarters can then be folded out using a “patented folding” system to reveal a larger, zoomed version of the plan. It’s as ingenious as it is low-tech, and probably well worth the £8 ($13) asking price.

There is one other advantage to using a cellphone for your maps, especially in a foreign city: You don’t look like a tourist. In London, though, this isn’t the case. The city is so big, and the roads so complex that every Londoner has an A to Z, a book which indexes and maps the city streets. In this city, pulling out a book of maps will make you look more like a local, not less. It’s also a sure-fire way to get a normally grumpy, rushed local to stop and talk to you. Londoners are even happier to help you find your way around than they are to grumble about the weather.

Map2 [The Zoomable Map via Oh Gizmo!]