Coming to Terms with the Horrors of Automation

INTRODUCTION The commercial companies engaged in the publishing of small scale mapping have been watching the development of computer aided cartography for many years. The subjects of papers presented to the British Cartographic Society at its annual symposium and winter lectures have gradually changed from a miscellany of topics to the almost total domination by computer allied areas. It has been a slow and gradual learning curve for those engaged in an arena influenced by production schedules, presentation and profit. It has also been difficult for us to appreciate how the stark, and frankly often ugl~, output from automatic pen plotters could have a beanng on a small industry that depended on the visually attractive as well as practical nature of its product. It seemed for so long that although the new methods and tech~iq~es were having a radical effect on large scale mappIng It could hardly affect us, no matter how hard we tried to reason. Inevitably as hardware and software improved, the day when we might become involved crept closer until some of us were convinced it was at hand. The one element that seemed as far away as ever was the quality of output. When the benefits of data analysis, data structure and digitisation became clear it was apparent that the AA Cartographic Department had a very good case for production by means of computer aided techniques. After all we produced maps in a variety of scales of one area (Great Britain), updated regularly, and the subject of the maps at these various scales was the same, roads. Of course there are other features to portray but here also digitising could help.