Review: The New TGO Magazine

June 9, 2011 By 12 Comments

In case you haven’t seen it yet the new, revamped, TGO (The Great Outdoors) magazine is in the shops now. The new magazine is not just a cosmetic make-over but a true re-launch, which was well overdue.

A lot of walkers I know have stopped buying TGO regularly, and this includes a number of those who undertake the TGO Challenge each year. Their complaints were all rather similar so in this review I’m going to focus on the most common of these. Has the new magazine really got to grips with its short comings?

Over the last year or so new Editor Emily Rodway has introduced some subtle changes. I understand many of the features of the new magazine have been under consideration for some time but changes in the management structure of the publishers have accelerated the rate of change, something I think we can all be grateful for.

The new magazine looks very different, more National Geographic than home grown desk top publishing. It is bigger at 140 pages or so. While many of the established features remain they have been updated and — in general — the content is more diverse than in the past.

So, there is a real a significant change here. So, how should we rate it?

What’s New?

A lot.

There are lots of new features. Upfront a new ‘Almanac’ section looks at what we can expect to see in the outdoors this month. There’s a ‘Walk of the Month’ (this time a walk on the South Downs), features on the flora and the fauna that we can expect to see, a look at the working life of someone who works on maintaining and preserving the great outdoors, a news column by Roger Smith (good to see Roger retained) and quite a big events section. I like this a lot. It makes a great deal of sense. The style is substantive and informative without being over-powering; it is not the kind of thing that you would find in, say, Trail.

A second substantial section looks at ‘Hill Skills’. This ten page section looks at scrambling — ‘Hands on Rock’, gear fixes, navigation, understanding the weather, fitting a pack and avoiding midges! In addition, there seems to be regular spots for bushscraft, fitness and nutrition.

Trail have been doing this kind of thing for a while but while they tend to take a whimsical look at skills the TGO approach seems to me to be far more authoritative.

Is There Life Beyond Scotland?

Yes!

To be fair, any British outdoor magazine is going to feature Scotland a lot. But most of us live South of the Border and walk elsewhere. A common gripe about the old TGO is that it should have been known as ‘The Scottish Outdoors’.

In the new magazine Scotland still shines but there is now not only more content than in the old magazine but more diverse content and for me this is a very welcome move.

In this issue we have very decent contributions on:

  • Off the beaten track in the Lake District — avoiding the crowds;
  • First-step rock climbing on Stanage Edge;
  • Comedian and walker Ed Byrne talking about a basic navigation course;
  • Andrew Terrill on experiencing the Solstice on Skye;
  • A profile of explorer Ed Stafford who talks about an 860 day coast-to-coast trek across South America, following the Amazon basin for much of the way;
  • A Photo Essay on Patagonia, featuring the work of Dougie Cunningham;
  • A feature on Welsh landscape painter Gwyn Roberts
  • A new ‘weekender feature’, this time Cameron MacNeish on Torridon.

In addition, the Wild Walks section seems to have been expanded. There are four walks in Scotland, the Nantile Ridge in Snowdonia (a great walk) and six walks in England — Northumberland, the Lakes, North Yorkshire, Herefordshire and Cornwall.

If that isn’t enough there’s a kind of ‘profile’ of Dartmeet on Dartmoor, where to stay, where to walk, what to expect to see and so on.

Jim Perrin and Roddy the Womble?

I’ve been a great fan of Jim Perrin’s work over the years but even I think that his columns have been getting more and more inaccessible and, often, downright weird. I know a lot of you are simply driven mad by his stuff. Jim is still here but the focus has changed.

Jim’s new monthly column will now highlights classic books and great writing about the outdoors. This month’s piece is an introduction but the books that are referred to are indeed all time classics. I suspect Jim — as a two time winner of the Boardman Travel Award — will make this a really interesting read. It is difficult to keep track of all of the new travel books let alone work through the old classics and help in this area will be welcome.

The Womble seems to have disappeared.

But what about the regulars?

Relax, the good stuff remains. Chris Townsend is still reviewing gear as well as writing his Backpacking Column. Roger Smith is still there (as mentioned above) and Cameron is still doing his thing although he seems to have lost the rather ridiculous ‘Editor in Large’ tag.

Amongst the regular contributors, Fiona Barltrop, Andy Stothert and Andrew Terrill are still around.

All of the usual gear tests and gear news are here in what seems to be an expanded section.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the height of the gear testers though! Chris, Judy Armstrong and John Manning are not the tallest of people and this has not gone un-noticed amongst our walker who often — over beers — titter about the “lots of headroom in this tent” kind of review :-)

The new format seems to give the old, regular, features more prominence. I’m not sure how much more space that have been give (if at all) but it just feels more substantive.

First Impressions

This is a major revamp that really works. If you haven’t read TGO for a while then go and hunt down a copy. Of course, a lot of work goes into the first issue of a relaunched magazine and much of the content is special. But if TGO can keep this up it will reclaim its position as the pre-emminent outdoors magazine in this country. Not only, I guess, has a lot of work gone into this issue but a lot of money has been spent on it as well so we really should be supporting it more often. In these days of austerity TGO is giving us more — much more — value for money and this has to be a good thing.

I have to say that I read this copy from cover to cover in a way that I haven’t done for a long time. There’s still stuff that I want to go back and read through thoroughly. I really welcome the more diverse content; it genuinely does make for a more interesting read.

Emily and her new Assistant Editor Carey Davies have really done a great job and I guess the publishers couldn’t have wished for a better start. Thanks you folks. I — at least — really appreciate it.

Now, if you haven’t seen it yet — go and buy a copy!

 

 

Filed Under: Multimedia

Scottish Midge Forecast App

May 2, 2011 By 2 Comments

You know, these days there is a App for everything!

I’ve just downloaded a Scottish Midge Forecast App from the App Store. Possibly, one of the most useful Apps I have downloaded!

Filed Under: Internet, Multimedia

Pssst — Routebuddy 3 is nearly here …

February 13, 2011 By 11 Comments

Judging from the private email I get many of think that the outdoor bloggers have the inside track on new developments, new gear ranges and so on. Some of them might I suppose if they are not ground down under the weight of PR company press releases and free samples. But I certainly don’t, well most of the time.

I do though follow and support those companies that I think are innovative in terms of design and customer service. Routebuddy is a UK company that is notable for producing the first mapping software for desktop Macs. Up to now Routebuddy has not given us hikers the features we need,i.e. height and OS Grid references. But these are coming in version 3.

What keeps me interested in Routebuddy is their philosophy. They are not about simply porting a PC design to the Mac. They are about producing a product that lives up to the higher expectations of Mac OSX. And they are about customer service. Routebuddy is not a free application but then the company offers a level of interactive customer service that others simply don’t aspire to. But this level of thoroughness demands time and this is why, I think, RB3′s delivery timetable has slipped. But it is also why it is probably worth waiting for.

I was having a chat to Routebuddy’s Neil Wilson Harris this week. Neil’s being keeping me in touch with developments and timetables. I have to say I’m very impressed by some of the things he’s told me so far and he’s now so consistent in what he says that I’m not quite confident that RB are going to deliver something very special.

Neil has being using Macs since the days of the Mac Plus and so have I. I reckon this means there is a certain obsessional devotion to the Mac way, which nearly always delivers a better customer experience.

Take grid references. How should we enter them into the computer? Should we have to use a pre-defined formula, say with a space between groups of digits? Or should we be able to put them in any old way and expect the computer to be able to make sense of them? The latter is the Mac way. As Neil says PC programs and ports ” … seem to give you a window for everything (so cluttered you can’t see the mapping application underneath the mess)”. ” …should we do it the harder or more sophisticated Mac way … no window clutter and only one search filter to enter any date into”.

I have to confess to not understanding everything that Neil talks about but it all sounds very interesting.

I suppose quality takes time and so I’ve been happy to wait. You can see this consistency and quality approach in Routebuddy’s iPhone Atlas application. RB didn’t just have to develop mapping software for this they had to deliver other technological achievements to get the desired end result for the user, very much an approach that would draw the approval of Steve Jobs. For example, I have the entire UK on 1:500,000 on my RB desktop. But this same map now sits on my iphone with no special add-ons required. I always have access to the 1:50 maps wherever I am in  the UK. RB felt that this is how it should be. But to do this they have had to develop new compression techniques that ensure these maps can be delivered on not only Macs but every legacy version of Windows. And the vector graphics used by RB really do give stunning and superior results to maps on a mobile device. Neil would admit that at the moment the iPhone apps are feature lite but I must admit I like this as the interface is clean and intuitive.

So, I know a little about what RB are up to. I’m not convinced that what they are up to is worth waiting for, and we won’t have to wait that long now.

If you want to see a glimpse of what can be done with this thorough approach try doing the following. Download the free 1:25 map form RB and upload it to their iphone app. You can do something similar with the other mainstream brands on the iphone as well. But then zoom in on the phone maps and see what happen. There’s little comparison.

So, I’m now quite excited about what is coming. But I’m also very impressed with RB’s vision of customer service.

You have to pay for Routebuddy. But for this you get a guaranteed development cycle. You get customer forums which allow for quick feedback and interactive discussion. And now you’re going to get some democratic involvement in the future as well! On launch Routebuddy will sketch out some of their future ideas. They will ask us the users which of these features they should prioritise and they’ll act accordingly.

I’d like to tell you more but as I said I don’t really understand all of it. I can reveal that while Routebuddy will keep the simple Mac interface the program will be completely re-built from the bottom up. It should be worth the wait!

 

Filed Under: Gear, Internet, Maps, Multimedia

Our Little World: I Have Seen the Future …

December 17, 2010 By 10 Comments

The comments to my recent post on new media got me thinking again. The more I debate and discuss this stuff the more I’m convinced that I’m right. we may think that the world of new and social media is maturing fast, but I think we are really just at the start of a new story. Bob and I can — and most usually do — spend hours talking about this kind of stuff when we meet and some of this inevitably spills out onto these pages. So, if your looking for hill-based entertainment I apologise. This is not the post for you. But ….

It is undoubtedly true that our little community has been made by the net. We are a band of people who share a niche passion (at least one). Fifteen years we simply wouldn’t have known that each other existed. We might have been happy in our own networks — for example TGO Challengers — but we’d never have been in daily contact with others in North America, Europe and beyond. During the early days of the internet I was thrilled (as an acoustic guitar player) to meet many of my heroes through usenet groups. Actually, this is where I first met Peewiglet. As exciting as this all was our world was quite limited and we rarely stumbled over the virtual divide to meet in person. These days many of us take for granted that — on say the TGO Challenge — we will meet people in the flesh for the first time who we have got to know pretty well already.

But the net has not only created contacts and networks. Look at the niche producers of ultralight gear for example. These folks may well have been producing gear in their garages before the net. But it has been the net that has enabled some of these folk to grow into genuine business that have an international reach. Imagine being somebody like Ron Bell and Mountain Laurel designs. How did Ron’s business become an international one? I bet he often sits, takes a cup of coffee and marvels at this. Of course, the answer is the net.

Despite the problems faced by new media (highlighted so eloquently by Bob) the reality is that we do now have a mass of material at our fingertips where twenty years or so ago we had very little. And it is multimedia. Hear about a book by some lunatic called Chris Townsend who seems to spend all of his time on long treks in beautiful places with no people? Well, now you can track the books down easily. And you can track Chris down to. You can not only read his blog but chat to him as well. We can all share in the experience of encountering this lovely man in a way that previous generations could not have even dreamt about.

Already we can see how new networks and new media can combine to give the established media a torrid time, not withstanding the problems Bob describes where — bluntly — established media set out to destroy new platforms. Was it ever thus?

But in niche markets the balance of the game changes. I know a lot of you have told me that you can now sit down for half an hour or more and — by reading the blogs and so on — get access to far more content than you can get in three or four issues of a print magazine. Sure there is a lot of crap around in the ether but there is also good stuff too and the specialist press are having to work hard to integrate themselves into this new world.

I think, though, that over the next few years we are to see an explosion in the quality of how niche data is shared through niche communities.

2011 will be the year of the electronic notepad. Yes I know that the iPad was the product of 2010 but what we are going to see next year is amazing progress as software geniuses show us how they are really coming to grips with these new hardware developments.

I have not yet taken the iPad plunge, though I now a number of you have. This is surprising really a I am a confirmed Apple junkie. But I resolved not to explore this new world until the iPad2 was out. I made this choice really because I figured it would take 12 months or so until the clever people really gave use programs and apps that were really useful and innovative.

However, I now have a number of friends and colleagues who have taken the iPad plunge and so I’ve had a lot of opportunity to play with them. And now I can see that the clever developers are beginning to produce the stuff that matches with how I thought the iPad (and its competitors) would be used.

The iPad is, of course, a fully-fledged, multi-task computer, unlike the Kindle e-reader which is really only brilliant at being an e-reader. iPads can be used as replacement laptops for the mobile and even as replacements for desktop computers in some environments. Ryan Jordan at backpackinglight.com has blogged about how he now uses his iPad and keyboard as his main writing tool, and he’s not alone. But it is the quality of the reading experience that hits me most about the tablet.

For me, the real point of the iPad is the sofa or the couch. I stumble downstairs on a Sunday morning, pick up the iPad and start to read content as I would have read a newspaper. Only this content can be far richer, be composed of multi media rather than simple type-based media. If I need to I can interact with this. But simply reading on an iPad is so much better an experience than reading on a desktop of laptop.

What’s now exciting me is that we are seeing developments from people who really understand the beauty of reading.

Flipboard is an app that has been given — by Apple — the accolade of App of the Year 2010. From what I have seen Flipboard deserves the accolades that it has received. This is just the kind of programme that is going to add eve more quality to our little ‘niche’ community.

What Flipboard does is bring together data from your favourite social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter and so on) and from both commercial and non-commercial RSS/XML feeds.

Using some very clever programming Flipboard displays this material is a stunning, quality magazine like format. There are other apps that do similar things but Flipboard’s real achievement is to go beyond that.

Consider this. I let Flipboard follow the Twitter Feeds and RSS feeds on some of my favourite outdoor bloggers. Flipboard pulls in their content and displays it in a really cool format. If Phil Turner or Chris Townsend have some good photos on their site then these will be featured in the glossy magazine type format. But there’s more. Phil is forever tagging articles and other blog sites in his Twitter posts. Flipboard will allow me not only to read Phil’s stuff but the electronic page will also feature photos and text from the links that he is tweeting about. Not only do I have a link to follow but there — on the same page as the blog post — is the content of the pages that he is twittering on about! Follow the links at the bottom of this page to see Flipboard in action.

Flipboard — and its competitors — will come of age this year. Many commentators are now describing Flipboard as the ‘Killer App’ for the iPad and this isn’t just hype. Rupert Murdoch may have his paywall but Flipboard will give us a community-orientated platform which exudes the same kind of quality. Bearing in mind the kind of crap content of Murdoch’s many enterprises Flipboard will probably give us backpackers and hill people a better quality product.

Now, I can pick up my tablet, sink into the couch with a cup of coffee and read my favourite blogs and backpacking material, sprinkled with stunning photos from Flickr and elsewhere in a package that oozes quality.

These are early days for Flipboard and some find fault with it at the moment. But the company is developing fast and it is not a simple garage based start up. The Flipboard team is made up of people who have impressive CVs that take in some of the nets finest companies, Twitter, Netscape and so on. Flipboard has raised significant investment funds and so it is not likely to disappear any time soon. And Flipboard is a company that seems to understand the full value of the net. Yes,it will work with established media company’s but as a child of the net it understands that — for us consumers — amateur content is at least as important.

Those I know who use Flipboard regularly tell me they are amazed by how it drives them towards sources of new material and introduces them to new writers and film makers. Flipboard see this ‘introduction’ technology as one of the key ways in which they will generate income. So, advertisers, news media and social media companies want their content to get to as many people as possible. Flipboard facilitates that. But they are now talking about constructing a micro payment system where promotional spend and advertising revenues can be shared with those who’s networks are exploited by Flipboard.

Flipboard is a truly exciting product and one that shows how the next phase of net development will unfold. I reckon it will serve our ‘little community well’, helping us not only discover new stuff but make better sense of what we read already. And it will give us more pleasure in doing so.

To find out more about Flipboard you can find a number of informative videos on their website.

Also worth watching is this 30 minute interview with Flipboard CEo Mike McCue by blogger Scobliezer.

This is an example of the technology that all of us will be using within 18 months or so. Of course, it wlll provide Bob with yet another headache in thinking through how to make it work. But, the real point of Flipboard is that it will allow our small community to integrate and to share even more effectively than we have learnt to do over the last five years or so.

Filed Under: Internet, Multimedia

The Democratisation Effect of New Media: the Outdoors Station Voted Top UK Business Podcaster

December 13, 2010 By 10 Comments

Well, well — the Outdoors Station has been voted the UK’s Top Business Podcaster! Congratulations to Bob and thanks to all of you who voted for us. It is much appreciated!

You know when your work has been accepted into your world when people start joking about it! I was recently talking to a hill walker who described the following scene. You climb to the top of a high, isolated, mountain in scotland. The sky is clear and blue. You can see for miles. To one side is a never-ending stretch of rigged mountains, to the other an expanse of aquamarine blue sea, sky and vivid green islands. You take a breather, marvelling at the power of mother nature. Suddenly, from behind a summit cairn springs a Bob or an Andy who thrusts a microphone in your face hollowing the greeting, ” … so tell us about your kit then …)

The podcasts were launched during those heady days when many thought the internet would democratise the media, allowing enthusiasts to deliver targeted products to niche audiences. Podcasting became the next big thing and some thought that it heralded the beginning of a new golden age of broadcasting. I suppose the zenith of this movement was the announcement that Channel 4 was to launch a series of digital radio channels which would seek to promote new audio producers, doing for the radio what they did for independent TV production during their early days. Bob and I were watching these plans with interest

It didn’t quite happen like that of course. Channel 4′s plans relied on DAB which never really caught on and financial pressure on media operators finally killed them off. The BBC didn’t help either. I’ve always been a fan of the BBC and have always defended the license fee. But the BBC failed the challenge of new media. They could have used their mission to promote new producers and to put themselves at the centre of a new ‘ecology’ of specialist producers. Instead they set about doing for this new world as they ‘did’ for the pirate radio stations of the late sixties. I can still remember being gobsmacked when Bob played me and episode of Clare Balding’s Rambling Podcasts. The BBC’s use of new media has given us a lot, particularly the ability to watch at your own convenience through the iPlayer. But their website has killed off a lot of potentially useful innovation and politicians of all kinds are right to be wary of a public service broadcaster with a mission to kill innovation rather than embrace it. It has been left to Apple, through iTunes, to provide the mass platform for new media although this can hardly be described as complex or developed. But when it comes to niche new media Apple have demonstrated more understanding of the need for a new spirit of public service broadcasting.

The Outdoors Station download figures are quite remarkable and show just how valued niche broadcasting is. As almost everyone tells us, these podcasts allow those of you who’s time in the hills is limited to connect with your outdoor passions. Some commercial companies have seen the point of it, but they are still few and far between. Specialist broadcasting can be used to promote adventure travel, demonstrate how gear works and most of all, inspire people to just “get out there”.

What is heartening is the way that our listeners stay with us even through the quiet, fallow, periods. Our listeners are happy to be patient confident in the knowledge that the RSS or iTunes feeds will deliver their prized content when it is ready. The loyalty of listeners — and the efficiency of delivery technologies — gives us the confidence to concentrate on what is possible rather than threat about what cannot be.

As I type we are beginning to think of new content. Over New Year’s visit to Snowdonia I hope to finally catch up with Colin Ibbotson and to talk to him and kimberley about his Arizonan trail trek, as well of discussing the plans for Colin’s 2011 gear of course! And Phil Turner — master of new gadgets and new technology — will be there as well and I’m sure he’ll entertain us will all kinds of new kit and new ideas for lightweight backpacking. And then, of course, there will be the walkers in the bars and cafés who just find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time! And there are ideas beyond Wales as well. I’m particularly looking forward to producing a podcast on the development and future of digital mapping, which will tie in with the launch of Routebuddy 3.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time interviewing walkers and those who dedicate their time to supporting them. I have particularly fond memories of interviewing Lord Chris Smith (President of the Ramblers) about the fight for the right to roam and the plans to extend it. And it was a personal delight to talk to Pete of Llanberis’ Pete’s Eats fame. Pete has become part of the Snowdonia furniture and it was moving to hear him talk about how locals got together to support the business through the rough days of Foot and Mouth, and how they have seen him through personal dark days of mental illness. Then there was the wonderful Mark Richards talking about how walkers need to match their actions and philosophy to not only the protection of the environment but to the sustenance of those upland communities that make so many of our adventures possibles. I was very moved by Tony and Di Howard talking about their plans to produce a walking guide to the Holly Land which was dashed — along with the dreams of local communities — by the Israeli-built wall that has destroyed centuries of history and ancient walking routes. And, of course, there are so many characters  — indeed eccentrics! It is indeed quite a skill to know how to get in a word edgeways when talking to Paddy Dillon (a skill that you have to master quickly), a challenge to understand what on earth Ronald Turnball is on about.

I’m convinced that niche audiences crave more content and maybe our time is yet to come. After all, Steve Coogan has only this week moved Alan Partridge to the internet! There is more to life than that offered through the BBC website!

Thanks again to you all for not only your votes but your support and friendship over the years.

You can see the award citation on You Tube here.

The Outdoors Station

Filed Under: Multimedia

Review: Anquet Maps for Mac and iPhone — VP Mapping

July 28, 2010 By 16 Comments

Back to hillwalking and backpacking!

The new implementation of Anquet Maps for the Mac OSX operating system (implemented by Mac software house Virtual Programming) has taken a bit of stick here in the comments section of this blog. The main complaint has been that Mac users who have Anquet running under Windows are not able to transfer their existing maps to work with the new program. This highlights the reality that the new mapping solution is being sold direct by VP Mapping rather than Anquet itself.

To be strictly fair about all of this I thought it was a time for a review of the Mac product in its own right. How does it work and how does it compare to the existing competition?

Preferring Native OSX on Macs

I should make it clear at the outset that I have only recently joined the world of computer mapping, buying the Routebuddy system when it was announced. I know that a number of Mac users have been working with Anquet maps for some time, using Windows emulation programmes on intel powered Macs. I suppose the growing Apple user base in the UK means that it is now worth exploiting it. For many years the big PC programs such as Anquet and Memory Map happily announced that they had no plans to move to OSX — you could always use emulation. But emulation is not for many of us.

Like many Mac users I prefer to work in OSX rather than muck about with Windows. I do use Windows from time to time but generally find Mac OSX to be more intuitive and easier to use. My backpacking route planning utilises other programs that are only available on the Mac. In particular, most of my route planning is done with the aid of Devonthink. Devonthink is a free-form database into which you can throw anything, text, pictures, web snippets, URLS and multimedia files. Anything can be tagged with anything. But what makes Devonthink special is its use of Artifical Intelligence technology to learn how top catalogue things for you. Import a piece of data, click on classify and the program will know where to put it. This is superb technology as your database becomes bigger and bigger. And the same AI technology helps make searching results more accurate. (Devonthink is no cheap but any serious Mac user would be well advised to experiment with it).

I now have so much Scottish data in Devonthink that I really do not want to have to switch between operating systems.

In many ways Routebuddy is a superb system but it lacks some key features for hillwalkers, most notably the ability to calculate height and the cumulative, or total, height gain for any calculated route. Routebuddy also does not give you spot OS grid references which is really frustrating. While these features are due to be added to Routebuddy they are not on the immediate horizon, a reminder that hillwalking must only represent a small percentage of usage of computer mapping. More about the comparison of Routebuddy and Anquet later.

Getting Set up for Anquet Maps Mac

The Anquet program is free to download (as opposed to Routebuddy which will set you back the best part of £100). The installation process prompts you to open an Anquet account. I’m not quite sure whether this is a new Mac/Anquet account or not, not having used Anquet before. Once you have set up your account the program downloads completely and starts to download a series of demo maps.

If your completely new to digital mapping this is where you might have the first problem. These are big files and they take quite a long time to download. But there’s not much of a clue that this is happening! Open the Maps window and you be presented with a pop-up with a number of tabs on it. Explore these to find a graphic representation of download progress — similar to that which Apple uses for system downloads.

The demo maps are quite impressive. You get demos of both 1:25 and 1:50 OS maps., plus a demo of the A to Z Guide for Birmingham and a number of other maps (including some antiquarian maps which might be of interest).

Play with these for a while and you’ll quickly see how the system works. Waypoints and route planning are all pretty intuitive, especially if you use the right-click mouse button for on screen options. You’ll then need some maps!

The VP map store (note VP and not Anquet) is available from the Maps pop-up. A wide range of UK maps are available including complete coverage of the country in both 1:50 and 1:25. OS maps are available individually or in popular bundles. You can also buy the complete country in both scales. Aside from OS you will find some of Harvey’s Maps, most notably the Lake District collection. These are the traditional Harvey’s series — the new BMC 1:40 collaborations are not available at the time of writing.

I bought two maps, the 1:50 OS collections for North West and North East Scotland. The combined cost of these was £20. This compares well to Routebuddy who’s equivalent maps are about the same price — but you will have had to pay for the program download. Routebuddy ask users to think about their map purchasing as their pricing can become more competitive the more maps you buy. However, for my use their is little competition. I have the entire UK in 1:50 format on Routebuddy; the Anquet equivalent map collection would cost the same — about £100 (but remember the program cost on top).

Downloading the maps took a long time, which it always does on any system. As I mentioned earlier there is not really much indication from the main program window of a download in progress. At first I kept finding that I couldn’t reach the download window, or rather couldn’t remember where it was. The trick — I think — is to play around with the demos more thoroughly. In any case, make a real effort to remember which tab of the Map Window shows download progress. For me, the Map window is not an intuitive as it could be but then this seems to be the way Anquet has always worked on PC.

If you get lost the ‘Map Manager’ is bought up by clicking the Download button in the tool bar. You should do this whether or not you have an internet connection. If there is no internet connection you will get a ‘login error’ but then the Map Manager pop-up will appear. At the top of the pop-up is a list a buttons that include the Map Store, My Maps and the Download (progress) tab. This is all very clunky and — I hesitate to say — not what you expect these days from OSX!

I would like to see some additional download information available from the main window. Perhaps a simple status line could show up on the bottom of the main window, perhaps showing Apple’s ‘moving cog’ icon to demonstrate that something ‘is happening’ out there on the net. Apple users instinctively look for the cog these days.

Using the Maps on Your Mac

Having downloaded your maps you’re ready to go. The main window is split into three or so panes in the standard Apple style. The map is shown in the main pane on the right and on the left are various other details — such as waypoint data, file database selected and so on. If you have used Routebuddy the effect is similar although Routebuddy seems to be closer to a typical Apple software interface.

Plotting a waypoint is easy. Just move your mouse to your chosen point on the map and right click. The mouse menu will give you the option of inserting a waypoint or beginning a route.

Insert a waypoint and you will immediately see one of the benefits of Anquet over Routebuddy. The waypoint pane will immediately display the full OS co-ordinate (include the alpha characters at the beginning of the reference.).

Adding to your route is a simple process of them mouse clicking at regular intervals. The right click menu gives you the simple option of ending the route.

Routes are listed in the pane in the top left. It is worth playing around with this a bit as it’s not always clear (to me at least) what you are doing. This pane lists ‘databases’ although it creates a default called Unfiled_Database. Your route will show in this pane. Right clicking on the Databses pane allows you to do extra things. Right click on the database name and you can create a new route. Right click on an existing route and you’ll see that you are creating a subset of it — which is indicated by tabbed text. This has taken me a little while to get used to but once mastered it is quite easy to add to routes, join routes together or to create multi day routes under one route heading.

Play around with this on the demo. The program allows you do do everything you want, but it is not always that clear as to what you are doing. Routes and inserts take a bit of practice.

Once you have plotted your route you will want all of the data associated with it — and this is another area where Anquet scores over  Routebuddy.

Once the route has been completed you will find all of the route information in the pane on the bottom left of the window. This gives you everything that Routebuddy does not, including:

Start Point (OS Grid Ref)

Finish Point (OS Grid Ref)

Flat length

Max & Min height

Height ascended and height descended.

One word of warning. I keep finding a kind of bug when I plan routes without saving them first in the databases pane. Here the height information does not come up immediately and is only visible after jumping through different windows and menu options. I’ve not had this problem at all when planning a route properly using the database window. Start a route in this window and when you move to the map and right click the menu will give you the option of starting on the route that you have just named.

It is worth opening routes and folders in the database window with a bit of thought. Routes that are subsets of routes in the database pane will show you route stats (including height) for both individual days and for the total route. Select any route and the Route Profile button in the main window will being you a pop-up with the profile in it.

Printing routes is easy, via. the print button in the main window although note that the dialogue box does not give you an option of previewing or printing to PDF — again features that you take for granted on Mac OSX.

Screen Use

The maps look good on the screen and scale pretty well. You can zoom in and out, zooming up to 600%. At 600% the quality begins to suffer a bit although up to 200% everything is pretty sharp. The bigger magnifications are usable though and really useful to anyone with a visual disability.

I’ve used Anquet Maps Mac on both my desktop and laptop machines. My desktop has a large 24 inch screen and this shows off the maps brilliantly. My laptop only has a 13 inch screen, although Mac screens are superb. The program is very useable on 13 inches and at 50% zoom you get a lot of legible map area.

In Summary

Anquet Maps Mac work very well and give me everything a want for my backpacking route planning in the UK. Those moving over from PC versions will have no problems using this program. Those using Anquet for the first time might find some niggles with it and they might find it takes a while to plan with real confidence but the learning curve is not too sharp. Support though is a bit clunky also. Help and support are available from the menus as you would expect but these are not always that easy to navigate and you can find yourself back at the Anquet PC site in a rather mysterious way!

I have no hesitation for recommending this program for hillwalkers in the UK.

Anquet maps are also available on the iphone with the iphone app being downloadable from iTunes (around £20). Your downloaded maps and routes can be synched with the iphone version. And of course, you can export routes and waypoints to any GPS — although you need to just check export formats to do this successfully.

But before I go it is worth reflecting a little on the competition.

 

And the Competition?

On Mac OSX we are really talking about Routebuddy. Routebuddy is not a cheap program although I guess competition might have an effect on pricing. While Routebuddy does not offer the hill walking functions of Anquet there is much about it that I prefer.

This might be a bit subjective but the maps look a little crisper to me on Routebuddy. Despite the route planning functions not having OS grid references and height data there is much in their route planning approach that I like.

Routebuddy really scores in the way it patches maps together. On Anquet when I get to the end of my NW Scotland map I have to select the NE map and then start in a separate screen (I have yet to see how this effects global route planning). On Routebuddy maps integrate more effectively. For example, I have a 1:25 map of the Fettereso Forest. On screen the program seamlessly blends the 1:50 and 1:156 data together in a really impressive way.

I shall still use Routebuddy when looking at routes around the country but for planning things like the TGO CHallenge I will automatically move to Anquet. Routebuddy may yet give us the features we need although I fear that — for hillwalkers at least — Anquet will simply become the default OSX program. It is worth allof us bearing in mind that these companies — Routebuddy and VP — are small companies and progress will be slow. Routebuddy seem to have their eyes on other markets and other uses.

There is, of course, still competition on the PC side of things.

Memory Map is a serious competitor even though it has no plans (as far as I can see) to port to Mac OSX (it has been ported to the iphone). Memory Map score because it is beginning to open up non-UK mapping — they are now producing maps for the Pyrenees (and other areas) that are of real interest to me. For some users international mapping might just enough for them to stay with a PC program run under an emulation program like Parallels which — after all — performs at full PC speed.

 

If you’re using any of these programs I’d welcome further feedback.

 

Filed Under: Internet, Maps, Multimedia

Cicerone E Book Survey

June 30, 2010 By 2 Comments

You may have already seen this but Cicerone Books are currently running a survey about the production of their guidebooks as E Books.

Darren (Whitespider) has criticised Cicerone’s e-book existing strategy in the past, mainly for their choice of e book format. I think Darren’s been a little harsh on Cicerone. Cicerone are a company who are very interested in the use new media, both in terms of extending their product range and in helping create a new sense of community around their books. I guess their first venture is just a toe in the water.

Completing the survey reminded me of my own problem with ebooks. I haven’t ever ought many of them and yet I have strong views about how they should be presented.

In many ways once the content for the print version has been completed it should not be a major task to transfer the material to an ebook format. However, converting titles to really stunning ipad applications will take more thought and effectively will add a new workstream for a small staff group to deal with. And what kind of marketing strategy and budget should be available?

I suppose having these guides in a format that can be used on smartphones is an obvious one. But they smartphones are nowhere near as useful on the hill as a properly sized guidebook! I might like a guide or two on my iPad when I’m in a B&B or car, but I sure not going to take an ipad onto the hill!

e Book versions of Cicerone’s books. A greta idea! Or is it? In all honestly — and despite my over of all things new media — I can’t really see any advantage in the ebook format or portability.

I’m sure these will be a thing of the future, especially as devices become more advanced. But we are some way off that.

The iPad might do Cicerone justice but then this is a luxury device. I love Apple and think the iPad is gorgeous. But I’m not buying one. Wh? Because I just can’t afford £600 as an impulse buy!

So, hats off to Cicerone for at least playing with the idea and for consulting their readership. You can join in here:

But I’ll end on one thought. If Cicerone want s to explore with something liek the iPad it should consider the bigger books — Kev Reynold’s collection of photos, his Pyrenean reference book and the mark Richards Hadrian’s Wall book.

These books would look stunning on the iPad. Maybe it would be enough to convince me to buy one. But then maybe not!

Filed Under: Multimedia

Even More on Mac Mapping Software

March 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A couple of days ago I posted about the cost comparison between Routebuddy and Anquet. A few people have emailed me to point out that the Anquet prices used were from their ‘SALE’ price list. I checked that Routebuddy’s prices were standard.

This probably means that Routebuddy closes the initial price gap even more quickly than I described.

When these two go head-to-head it will be interesting.

Filed Under: Multimedia

More on Mac Mapping Software

March 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Amended 11th March 2009

I’ve had a lot of response to my piece on Routebuddy (not least from Routebuddy and Anquet). More than a few people have raised the issue of price as Anquet allow their software to be downloaded for free and Routebuddy costs about £66 (it is priced in dollars on the website).

Now, there’s nothing in this world for free and so I set about trying to compare a collection of maps. While Routebuddy costs some money their maps are often cheaper than Anquets. Basically, the more maps you buy the closer the differential.

Look at this collection. First we have to buy Routebuddy and download Anquet (£66 and £0 respectively).

Then I buy the Snowdonia National Park map which is £49.95 for RB and £50.00 for Anquet.

Then I buy the Pembrokeshire regional map. £29.99 for RB and £50.00 for Anquet.

Then I buy Cairngorms complete (Anquet) £75 and Caingorms W and E from RB at a combined cost of £59.98.

I could go on. The comparisons become a little difficult because both have cheap maps in their range, for example Anquet discount the NW Scotland map and RB does not.

You should note that these prices of from Anquet’s current ‘SALE’. In more normal times RB maps may be even more competitive.

But you can see from how this is working that the cost gap closed as you buy actual maps.

Of course, we can’t compare the programs and the quality of the maps side-by-side as the Anquet offering is not with us yet. But I suspect this is something you want to look at carefully before you buy. Depending on the maps you want Routebuddy can close the gap quicker than that listed above. But then if you want — say — just Great Britain at 1:50 the Anquet is the better deal.

I’ve been trying to get my head around Routebuddy’s claim to be mixing vector maps with raster maps, something that Anquet doesn’t do. When I’ve succeeded I will report back.

Filed Under: Multimedia

Mac Mapping Software — Anquet to Join the Party

March 9, 2010 By 3 Comments

My review of Routebuddy has elicited an approach from Anquet who are preparing a native Mac version of their software.

For years I’ve watched both Anquet and Memory Map sites and both have made it clear that they had no plans to produce a Mac version. After a while I gave up watching! However, the iPhone seems to have changed all of that. Anquet are producing the software in conjunction with VLC who are a specialist Apple software house. We can expect both Mac and iPhone versions.

This will be an interesting race between Anquet and Routebuddy. memory Map appear to have no plans, although they now have an iphone version.

Anquet’s Mac and iPhone plans.

Filed Under: Multimedia
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