From Print to Mobile mApps: How to Take Adobe Illustrator Maps, Add Pinch-to-Zoom, and Place Them on the Android Market

Abstract

Mobile devices and their apps are changing the way people use technology, and in turn, further evolving how people use maps. New devices, including smartphones, tablet computers, Android wristwatches, and eReaders are completely revolutionizing how, where, and why people use media—both static and interactive. The future of cartography is moving toward mApp (written as “mapp” throughout the rest of this article) production—maps that have been created, or retrofitted, as apps for distribution and use on mobile computing devices. Mapps are a hybrid map form—a synthesis of the functionality of modern multimedia mapping with the portability of paper.