Why stop printing?

In order to save money, the government is going to stop printing “the roadmap[s] of the ocean,” which are charts that “tell you what’s under the water.” Knowing what is in your pathway “is critical for navigation.” When the government stops printing nautical charts after mid-April, “sailors, boaters and fishermen will have to use private on-demand printing, PDFs or electronic maps to see the information.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is still going to chart the water for hazards, such as rocks or shipwrecks.

Even though “most people instead use the [more up-to-date and accurate] on-demand maps printed by private shops,” many prefer to use the nautical charts, and they “say they will miss the charts, which [are also] used as decorations.” Newburyport, Mass., harbormaster Paul Hogg says, “[i]t’s the nautical history, you know, pirates and ships.” He has a chart hanging on his wall. “It seems more nautical. There’s just kind of, like, a feel to it.” It seems to me that the people that prefer the old charts like them because of the historical feel to it. At New York Nautical, store manager James “Smitty” Smith prefers the old nautical charts because they’re “more soothing on the eyes.” He also admits that he “sells far more of the current on-demand map on the lighter weight, whiter paper” and he “saw the end of the old-fashioned maps coming.” He closes by saying “[t]here must be some art value in them because a lot of people love them.”

I don’t see why the government is going to stop printing these nautical charts. They sell the maps “for about $20 apiece, the same amount it costs to print them.” If they weren’t losing money from this to begin with, then how would it be saving money to stop printing them? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pays “about $100 million a year to survey and chart the nation’s waters.” They are planning to “still spend the same money, but provide the information in the less traditional way.” In my opinion, the decision to stop printing the nautical charts is unnecessary. If it is the same money that the agency is spending and earning, then they should have both products be available to consumers. If all of the options were still available, then they would not lose any sales from the people that like the old-fashioned charts. 

Source: "Federal government to stop printing nautical charts" by Associated Press, from foxnews.com published October 22, 2013