Globe

    A globe may seem like a dated decorating accessory in a technologically savvy world; however, that's just not the case. Globes have updated their appearance and now look hip in any home. But more importantly, globes still offer a helpful function that the interactive maps on our computers and cell phones just can't touch - or to better put it, can't wrap themselves around.
    You see, the reason we still need and use globes is not because they've been around for years and we're used to it. We use globes because of their shape. Unlike maps, globes are three dimensional, and just happen to represent the shape of the earth, which is highly important as I learned during my conversation with Replogle Globes' Chief Cartographer, Terry Donovan.
    "Well, let's face it," Donovan said. "This [globe] is how the earth actually is, so anything other than this is a false image of the earth. This shows the direction of place names, of places in their proper relation to each other as well as their size.
    "If you have a flat map, you distort the relationship between places and the size of places as far north as the North Pole to areas along the equator. So, there is distortion with flat maps."
    The distortion caused by maps can make it harder to understand where places are in the world; whereas, globes make it easy to comprehend each places location and relationship to other locations.   
    "[With a globe] you can measure distances easier, you can look at plane routes or jet routs and how they travel. It makes more sense looking at a globe when you analyze the relationship between places and even movement of ships and planes and even drainage to a great extent. The dynamics of the earth, it's more easily understood with a globe."
    While globes are extremely helpful when it comes to knowing where you and other places are in the world, they do lack one important item: information. Globes just aren't big enough to list every detail of every place that is, unless you want to get a really, really big one. So you won't want to throw away your maps if you get a globe. You'll just need to make room for a little extra geography in your life.
It never hurts to know more about the world, and your room's appearance won't hurt any from it. Globes provide a mystique that covers many different characteristics, knowledgeable, educated, sophisticated, adventuresome and curious, just to name a few. So when you put a globe in a room, you're not just adding a geographical tool or a beautiful decorative accessory, you're adding all of the characteristics associated with a globe. Plus, they're fun to spin.