I walked the mile home from school from the age of five. Why would anyone need a map? And I spent all day outside away from home from the age of about eight i

I walked the mile home from school from the age of five. Why would anyone need a map? And I spent all day outside away from home from the age of about eight in the summer with of course no phone of any kind and no maps even though I was tramping for miles through fields and streets. What has changed in the last sixty years that makes maps and communication a necessity?