Ipod subway maps.....yeah.

August 14, 2005 6:17 PM

Ipod Subway Maps
posted by Espoo2 (18 comments total)

I downloaded this, all excited, until I saw it was only for iPod Photo. Boo.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:27 PM on August 14, 2005 [1 favorite]

Part of me is just fiercely proud of my city and glad that they have Toronto up there.

But the other part of me thinks - there are only two freaking lines! You can't possibly EVERY get lost on the Toronto subway. There are maps in EVERY car, and it's so simple to get around!

Okay, with the Shepherd line, there are now two and a half (it's a dinky little thing), and for some people the U-shape of the Yonge Spadina line is a bit confusing. But really, it's like the simplest subway you can get outside of those cities that have only one little train going back and forth across their downtown. No express trains, no different routes, just subways going back and forth and back and forth.

Now Montreal? That's a complicated small subway.
posted by jb at 6:30 PM on August 14, 2005

don't let the silverline fool you in boston. it's only a bus line being marketed as a subway. nothing special, really.
posted by brandz at 6:37 PM on August 14, 2005

I did think kind of thing myself with the Brooklyn and Queens bus maps before a recent trip to NYC. The maps were a little too busy to be very useful, but they helped a couple times and I was glad to have them. Next time I go somewhere with extensive public transportation I'll check these maps out.
posted by aaronetc at 6:52 PM on August 14, 2005

It's neat, but kinda useless. There are maps *everywhere* in the subway, and I'm not big on advertising that I have a hundred-odd-dollar iPod on me.
posted by dame at 7:25 PM on August 14, 2005

Ahh yes, yet another reason not to look up while using public transportation.
posted by VulcanMike at 8:27 PM on August 14, 2005

I got all excited and dowloaded this and got it to work on an Iriver MP3 player and then I realised that there was a far more robust pre-existing solution in the form of those little pocket sized maps London underground supply.

Resolution: Map: 6000x8000 (approx); iPod photo (220x176); Winner: Map
Information: Map: Entire netwok; iPod (1/15th of network); Winner: Map
Cost: Map: Free; iPod photo: £200 (20GB model); Winner: Map
Weight: Map: 5g; iPod photo: 170g; Winner Map
Looking like a dick reading map on iPod: Map: No; iPod photo: Yes; Winner: Map
USB on the go: Map: No; iPod photo: No; Winner: None
posted by rhymer at 2:26 AM on August 15, 2005

Sorry posted by accident; here's finished version:

I got all excited and dowloaded this and got it to work on an Iriver MP3 player and then I realised that there was a far more robust pre-existing solution in the form of those little pocket sized maps London underground supply. Here's a handy comparison:

Resolution: Map: 6000x8000 (approx); iPod photo (220x176); Winner: Map
Information: Map: Entire netwok; iPod (1/15th of network); Winner: Map
Cost: Map: Free; iPod photo: £200 (20GB model); Winner: Map
Weight: Map: 5g; iPod photo: 170g; Winner: Map
Looking like a dick reading map on iPod: Map: No; iPod photo: Yes; Winner: Map
USB on the go: Map: No; iPod photo: No; Winner: None
Will get you mugged: Map: No. iPod photo: Yes: Winner: Map
Plays Pop Music: Map: No; iPod photo: Yes. Winner: iPod.

I think the map has it.
posted by rhymer at 2:30 AM on August 15, 2005

USB on the go: Map: No; iPod photo: Yes; Winner: Map
posted by cillit bang at 3:18 AM on August 15, 2005

USB on the go without the need to purchase an extra accessory: No.
posted by rhymer at 3:41 AM on August 15, 2005

PinkSuperhero: You only need the iPod photo for color images; 3rd Gen iPods work just as well, if you only want the station names or line IDs.

A cheap alternative (for NYC, anyway) is to get a wallet-sized subway map; a number of bookstores in the city carry the Manhattan and Brooklyn/Queens cards for a dollar each.

I know, I know - a dollar (Or rather, two dollars, compared to ~88.3 kilobytes for the iPod images). Nobody said the world was fair.
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:48 AM on August 15, 2005

Huh. I thought it was a great idea. Who wants to carry yet another thing in their pockets? Also, if you live in NYC anyway, you really use the subway map to navigate the streets a lot.
posted by xammerboy at 6:27 AM on August 15, 2005

It's the application of technology to something that doesn't need it (which, incidentally is why nooboy buys ebooks - the real things are so much better). Interesting that you can navigate streets in NYC with a subway map. Presumably that's because it's a grid. The London Tube map, although a design classic is useless for navigating streets. Here's why. Real vs.tube map.
posted by rhymer at 11:26 AM on August 15, 2005

Navigate the streets with a map? It's Manhattan. Can you count? And it is useless for where there aren't numbered streets.
posted by dame at 12:16 PM on August 15, 2005

You are right, dame. It's completely f--king pointless.
posted by rhymer at 3:00 PM on August 15, 2005

Using a credit card wallet NYC subway map for twenty years. And will never own ANY ID3Tag navigation mp3 player as I prefer organizing my music MY way, with many more levels than that pre-defined system is capable of doing.

(And storing files in some mystery location is anathema to every cell in my body)
posted by HTuttle at 10:35 PM on August 15, 2005

rhymer - your second link 404'd.

Tube map (GIF)
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:13 AM on August 16, 2005

Thanks.
posted by rhymer at 6:13 AM on August 16, 2005