Friday, April 16, 2010

Good bye McNally.

Today, I discarded one of my most my prized possessions- an old Rand McNally travel atlas. It had lived a productive and useful life. It had traveled, been hugged and been loved by me in so many ways. It was my good friend. My McNally and I were like the soccer ball and Tom Hanks in the movie. We talked to each other. But it was over. I knew the end had come when I stepped out of my car after my last road trip.

I have logged many miles with McNally. It has helped me through many a wrong turn and back on the main highway. It is 17 inches long by 11 inches wide and about ½ inch thick. It has more than 150 pages. It is 20 times larger than my iPhone and 4 times larger than my iPad. Both have superior mapping capabilities compared to McNally. I realized that at the end of my last 1600 mile road trip from Palm Springs to Kansas City. I did not need my McNally once. It was over. Plus my iPhone has that little blue dot that always shows me where I am.

But the burial of my McNally has broad implications, particularly if you are a road map maker.

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