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I’m not a fan of AuthaGraph at all. It has horrible distortion look at Brazil or Alaska - and it’s proprietary (creator never released the actual map details, s

I’m not a fan of AuthaGraph at all. It has horrible distortion look at Brazil or Alaska - and it’s proprietary (creator never released the actual map details, so you can’t make your own...) The worst thing, in my eyes, is that the distortion is unpredictable. Looking at a map where Canada is too big, you can mentally imagine Canada as smaller. But you can’t mentally undo the multi-direction transformation of Alaska into not-Alaska. The distortion is so bad that real world things like a road trip through South America would end up looking completely different from this map to another. You better hope you never get on a boat or a plane using this map - try tracing a straight line if you want a laugh. (The unfortunate distortion-hacking done by its creator effectively dumped the distortion in the oceans, so good luck if you ever go there.) Design features like “you can do nifty origami with it” shouldn’t factor into if a map is used or not. In my opinion, if you want something modern and cool, and you really care about pure accuracy, go with Waterman Butterfly. If you want something four sided and traditional, and relative sizes are slightly less important (but still important), go with Peirce Quincuncial - which, I might add, has far better looking Tissot’s indicatrices.

andi999 5y ago
If one really cares about accuracy, why not getting a globe.
- thewakalix 5y ago
  Yes, you're very clever.
- sheepdestroyer 5y ago
  We all do : Google Earth. Is there still a point to 2D maps?
  - KineticLensman 5y ago
    > Is there still a point to 2D maps? Hiking away from cell towers and wifi Historical maps Maps that aren't owned by Google
    - Judgmentality 5y ago
      > Hiking away from cell towers and wifi Just download the map in advance. > Historical maps Agreed on this. > Maps that aren't owned by Google I agree with this in principle, but there are alternatives to Google Maps and some of them are even gaining popularity because developers in general are terrified of ever relying on Google for anything besides ads.
      - KineticLensman 5y ago
        > Just download the map in advance Okay, hiking away from cell towers and wifi and power supplies
        Judgmentality 5y ago
        My phone gets about 4 days of use currently before recharging, and I could pretty easily find ways to recharge it even using solar power if I wanted to. If you don't want to use your phone as a map that's fine, but it's incredibly convenient for (I'd wager) 99% of use cases.
        andi999 5y ago
        What about redundancy. You drop your phone and you are lost in the wilderness. You drop the map, you pick it up again.
      - rags2riches 5y ago
        I actually just came home from a hiking trip hours ago. I was supposed to meet up with a friend along the way. I had a proper map. He only had a phone. Some rainfall and a little bit of bad luck and he could no longer use his phone. Luckily, everything worked out in the end, after some unneeded trouble. But I wouldn't rely on a phone like that.
  - andi999 5y ago
    At least here hiking maps are much better than Google maps. (trails are marked and there are smaller paths visible)
macspoofing 5y ago
Your criticisms are way too strong. Every 2D projection map of a 3D globe is going to make some compromises. So you can make the similar kinds of arguments for Mercator projection maps, which preserve shapes, but not relative sizes. >You better hope you never get on a boat or a plane using this map - try tracing a straight line if you want a laugh. Then don't use it for that! >Design features like “you can do nifty origami with it” shouldn’t factor into if a map is used or not. Maps are made for functional or aesthetic reasons or both. Why shouldn't that be a consideration? The pertinent question is: what do you want to use your map for? >In my opinion, if you want something modern and cool Again, what are you trying to optimize for?
magikaram 5y ago
"try tracing a straight line if you want a laugh" And on the Mercator projection, it too is also going to turn a straight line into a curved line. Draw a long enough line, and in a specific direction, it'll make an 'S' curve. Personally, my favorite map to look at is the Goode homolosine projection. Also difficult for the usecase of navigation across oceans, but among continental comparisons, general shape and size, it's useful. Not all maps need to necessarily be used for navigation aeronautics, or seafaring.

andi999 5y ago

If one really cares about accuracy, why not getting a globe.

thewakalix 5y ago
Yes, you're very clever.
sheepdestroyer 5y ago
We all do : Google Earth. Is there still a point to 2D maps?
- KineticLensman 5y ago
  > Is there still a point to 2D maps? Hiking away from cell towers and wifi Historical maps Maps that aren't owned by Google
  - Judgmentality 5y ago
    > Hiking away from cell towers and wifi Just download the map in advance. > Historical maps Agreed on this. > Maps that aren't owned by Google I agree with this in principle, but there are alternatives to Google Maps and some of them are even gaining popularity because developers in general are terrified of ever relying on Google for anything besides ads.
    - KineticLensman 5y ago
      > Just download the map in advance Okay, hiking away from cell towers and wifi and power supplies
      - Judgmentality 5y ago
        My phone gets about 4 days of use currently before recharging, and I could pretty easily find ways to recharge it even using solar power if I wanted to. If you don't want to use your phone as a map that's fine, but it's incredibly convenient for (I'd wager) 99% of use cases.
        andi999 5y ago
        What about redundancy. You drop your phone and you are lost in the wilderness. You drop the map, you pick it up again.
    - rags2riches 5y ago
      I actually just came home from a hiking trip hours ago. I was supposed to meet up with a friend along the way. I had a proper map. He only had a phone. Some rainfall and a little bit of bad luck and he could no longer use his phone. Luckily, everything worked out in the end, after some unneeded trouble. But I wouldn't rely on a phone like that.
- andi999 5y ago
  At least here hiking maps are much better than Google maps. (trails are marked and there are smaller paths visible)

macspoofing 5y ago

Your criticisms are way too strong. Every 2D projection map of a 3D globe is going to make some compromises. So you can make the similar kinds of arguments for Mercator projection maps, which preserve shapes, but not relative sizes. >You better hope you never get on a boat or a plane using this map - try tracing a straight line if you want a laugh. Then don't use it for that! >Design features like “you can do nifty origami with it” shouldn’t factor into if a map is used or not. Maps are made for functional or aesthetic reasons or both. Why shouldn't that be a consideration? The pertinent question is: what do you want to use your map for? >In my opinion, if you want something modern and cool Again, what are you trying to optimize for?

magikaram 5y ago

"try tracing a straight line if you want a laugh" And on the Mercator projection, it too is also going to turn a straight line into a curved line. Draw a long enough line, and in a specific direction, it'll make an 'S' curve. Personally, my favorite map to look at is the Goode homolosine projection. Also difficult for the usecase of navigation across oceans, but among continental comparisons, general shape and size, it's useful. Not all maps need to necessarily be used for navigation aeronautics, or seafaring.