Great background info; it reminds me--albeit on a greater scale--of an earlier HN thread to the effect of "how hard could possibly be to show street names on ma

Great background info; it reminds me--albeit on a greater scale--of an earlier HN thread to the effect of "how hard could possibly be to show street names on maps at with globally correct-seeming detail at arbitrary zoom level," which does sound kind of simple, if you've never tried to do it for real, but which has frustrated many smart people for a long time.