Cartography for today's amateur mapmaker is both easy and incredibly hard. Google Earth et al have allowed for neogeography to take off. Everything from car directions to citizens working together online to create war maps is now possible. However, in this great leap forward those who wish to make standard "static" maps are still stuck searching online for a blank outline map (and then one has to hope it is a crisp map and not a pixelated jpg).
There is hope now that the static cartographer will not be left behind. Indiemapper is in development. Indiemapper will be an online tool that will allow one to upload GIS shape files (.shp) and then do cartographic editing like coloring and labelling. This could save many from being forced to use clunky and sometimes expensive GIS programs with steep learning curves. Let us hope this works! (Hat tip: Cartogrammar)
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