I heartily agree that maps a not only fun, but they are vital to navigating through this world.

I see a map, a compass, a UTM grid, and a GPS as a powerful foursome, given the knowledge to use them together properly.

"a good map could have saved James Kim's life"

While I'll agree that a VERY good map might have prevented the Kims from driving down those back roads - or even from attempting to drive on those roads (I understand they did have Google maps, but there is some debate as to thier accuracy), a map alone probably wouldn't have helped much. They had a very poor estimate of exactly where they were. In my view, if they'd had a maping GPS or a GPS, UTM grid and a map, then they'd have known how far it was to the nearest town and Jim might not have tried to make the walk, but then again, he might still have tried to walk to help.