iGage Mapping Corporation is a
small engineering company in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in
early 1996, iGage began by provided electrical engineering design
and software services for industrial and automation customers.
The word 'iGage' is a play ('Eye Gauge')
on the machine vision, non-contact measurement devices that
were the basis of our core products. The name was coined long
before iEverything and eEverythingElse become popular. Over
the years we have come to regret our trendy name, we are just
boring engineers, but it always appeared to be too difficult
to change our name to something more descriptive like 'Light
and Chemical Based Measurement Tools and Systems'.
iGage is responsible for many of the
infrared absorption gas measurement devices that check automotive
emissions; the gas analyzers for oxygen concentration measurement
and calibration used in hospitals and industry; several lines
of high speed laser based measurement tools for the non-contact
measurement and control of wire, fiber and cable extrusion;
motorized valve testing equipment; and lots of other nifty,
but equally unexciting tools and devices.
In March 1998 Mark Silver, an iGage engineer,
built a software tool that allowed him to view all the 7½ minute
quadrangle maps in the North Eastern corner of Utah where he
fishes. Mark paid his way through the University of Utah fighting
range fires for the Bureau of Land Management in Vernal Utah.
He loves maps, and he had always dreamed of making a tool like
All Topo Maps. Originally he called his hobby 'iTopo' and it
intrigued everyone who saw it. He soon expanded it to cover
all of Utah.
By August 1999, Mark was literally burning
up the iGage office CD-ROM burner making copies for his friends
and their acquaintances. In October 1999, Mark decided to have
a couple hundred copies made to give as Christmas gifts. He
learned that it was about the same price to press 1,000 sets
as it cost to burn 100 so he made a simple User's Manual and
some cover art then had 1,000 sets of CDs pressed and assembled.
Mark spent several weeks giving maps
sets away, pulling the front covers and autographing them as
if he was a famous musician. Very quickly it became evident
that he would not be able to give them away fast enough to satisfy
everyone who wanted a copy so he convinced three local retailers
(Denali, Utah Idaho Map World and the Utah Geological Survey
store) to retail All Topo Maps.
When All Topo Maps were released, there
was no competition and no comparable products to set a price
against. Mark decided that $100 was a fair price that he would
be willing to pay for the two-disk set. Within a couple of weeks
the concept of a simple, reasonably priced consumer mapping
tool was proven. Hundreds and hundreds of copies were quickly
sold. The 1,000 original map sets barely made it through Christmas.
Four-disk Utah sets followed and surrounding
states were completed. Soon the entire country was completed.
Selling maps is a lot more fun than building
gas measurement systems, so iGage had a GPS interface tool written,
improved the resolution and viewing software and released several
new states (Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming.) Soon we had sold over
5,000 copies of All Topo Maps to consumers, and to our surprise
other engineers. More states and nifty mapping tools like BigTopo
have followed.
In September 2000, all of iGage's mapping
products, employees, equipment and technology were acquired
by 'Igage Mapping Corporation'. Igage Mapping Corporation is
wholly owned by employees.
Topographical maps are the basis for
almost everything that our society does. Early maps guided exploration.
Later maps formed the basis for land sales, plat maps and land
ownership. The topographic map series is one of this nation's
finest treasures, a resource of uncountable value. The series
was paid for by citizens for their benefit, it should be available
in a concise, friendly form for everyone to use at a reasonable
price.
Topographical maps are art. Each map
has been painstakingly generated by hundreds of artisans, each
improving on the work of their predecessors. When you hang a
quadrangle on your wall and look your favorite place you don't
see a paper map. Your mind sees the places you have been, the
mountains, hills, streams and lakes. You can instantly remember
those hikes you took 20 years ago and the events that occurred
on them. The maps, like fine art, are more than paper and ink.
So, it is by accident that iGage fell
into the role of providing digital mapping solutions. At the
time of this writing we have served millions and millions and
millions of maps. More than 180,000 All Topo Map sets! Hopefully
our products provide extreme value, and simple to use map gratification
for the map needy and the truly map obsessed.
We are not a big outfit, so your comments
and suggestions make an immediate difference! Don't hesitate
to drop us a note if your have a great idea or hate our guts
and want to let us know about it. You will get a quick response!
Thank you very much for purchasing or
just checking out All Topo Maps.
