ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses these issues, that research into the nature and usage of digital maps is facing today, by using the concept of the map as an "immutable mobile" as a starting point and shows how new actors enter the market for geographic information. It follows the hypothesis that the digitalization of cartography has resulted in a radical shift that has fundamentally altered "the cartographic gaze" of the modern era through changes in the relation between map user and cartographic presentation. The chapter argues that this shift is brought forward by practices of "geobrowsing" that draw into doubt whether map use can still be modeled as a reading process. It focuses on methodological challenges for the study of map use and role of geomedia in shaping the understanding of space and place and practices—;;led by the question what people do with media—;;opens up the opportunity to look closely at the cultural embeddedness of geomedia and reveal alternative attitudes toward mapping.
