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For a digital map, you can show a simulated globe (like what Google Maps does). If you have a world paper map, though, there's no real way around inaccuracies.

For a digital map, you can show a simulated globe (like what Google Maps does). If you have a world paper map, though, there's no real way around inaccuracies. You can trade off one inaccuracy for another, is all.

chrisseaton 6y ago
Google Maps does not do what you are saying it does. Try it for yourself. Zoom out. Look at the size of Greenland. It’s just a variant of the conventional projection you’d use on paper. And even for systems that do adjust the projection based on where you’re looking, such as Google Earth, that simulated globe is still... just a projection. It’s got the same issues in that areas and sizes are distorted.
- panic 6y ago
  Google Maps used to show a globe at low zooms by default: https://9to5google.com/2018/08/03/google-maps-globe-zoom-out/ https://9to5google.com/2018/08/03/google-maps-globe-zoom-out... Now you have to click a button to turn it on: https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/eoav6s/did_they_disable_the_globe/ https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/eoav6s/did_they...
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Look at the screenshot - notice how compressed Italy is? That’s a projection issue. The projection issues are still there.
    - xaduha 6y ago
      First of all Google Maps is cruder than Google Earth, so let's just use https://earth.google.com/web https://earth.google.com/web I think the point here is that it is interactive and can be made as accurate as you want by moving around, zooming in and looking at the center. Not at stuff at the edges which might be distorted a bit, because yes, it's still a projection. Go to Map Style and enable gridlines and then try to argue it's not accurate.
    - SamBam 6y ago
      Yes, but our brains readily interpret it as a rendering of a 3D globe, and do not make the assumption that the shape or size of Italy is literally like that. Further, you can trivially drag it to spin the globe.
- nwallin 6y ago
  There's a little button that looks like a globe in the lower right corner. When it was introduced, it used to be the default, but apparently isn't anymore. If you toggle it once, Google will remember your preference, so for a lot of people, when they zoom out they get a globe without manually switching over every session. Of course, rendering a globe in WebGL or whatever and drawing it on a 2D screen is still a projection, and it still introduces distortions in shapes and areas, but the 3D-ness of it gives your brain the cues it needs to "correct" the distortions.

chrisseaton 6y ago

Google Maps does not do what you are saying it does. Try it for yourself. Zoom out. Look at the size of Greenland. It’s just a variant of the conventional projection you’d use on paper. And even for systems that do adjust the projection based on where you’re looking, such as Google Earth, that simulated globe is still... just a projection. It’s got the same issues in that areas and sizes are distorted.

panic 6y ago
Google Maps used to show a globe at low zooms by default: https://9to5google.com/2018/08/03/google-maps-globe-zoom-out/ https://9to5google.com/2018/08/03/google-maps-globe-zoom-out... Now you have to click a button to turn it on: https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/eoav6s/did_they_disable_the_globe/ https://old.reddit.com/r/GoogleMaps/comments/eoav6s/did_they...
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  Look at the screenshot - notice how compressed Italy is? That’s a projection issue. The projection issues are still there.
  - xaduha 6y ago
    First of all Google Maps is cruder than Google Earth, so let's just use https://earth.google.com/web https://earth.google.com/web I think the point here is that it is interactive and can be made as accurate as you want by moving around, zooming in and looking at the center. Not at stuff at the edges which might be distorted a bit, because yes, it's still a projection. Go to Map Style and enable gridlines and then try to argue it's not accurate.
  - SamBam 6y ago
    Yes, but our brains readily interpret it as a rendering of a 3D globe, and do not make the assumption that the shape or size of Italy is literally like that. Further, you can trivially drag it to spin the globe.
nwallin 6y ago
There's a little button that looks like a globe in the lower right corner. When it was introduced, it used to be the default, but apparently isn't anymore. If you toggle it once, Google will remember your preference, so for a lot of people, when they zoom out they get a globe without manually switching over every session. Of course, rendering a globe in WebGL or whatever and drawing it on a 2D screen is still a projection, and it still introduces distortions in shapes and areas, but the 3D-ness of it gives your brain the cues it needs to "correct" the distortions.