Yes. Specially, touch enabled screens with dynamically rendered graphics.
replyThe Google Maps app on my iPhone at one point years ago switched to having a globe as its base, like Google Earth. It was great.
Then Google switched it back to Mercator. But you can scroll infinitely to the left or right, so its base is actually now “Mercator rolled into a tube.” Somehow that’s even worse!
Damn, I knew I've seen google maps going to globe after zooming out, but when I checked today it didn't. I wonder why they rolled that back.
replyFortunately Google Earth is still a sphere not a cyllinder.
The projection you see with your eyes is actually not that great in a sense. You can only see half of the world at a time and it's quite distorted as you move towards the edge. Also on a computer you should be able to "spin" any map projection, not just a globe.
replyScreens are still 2D objects requiring projections.
replyWith computer generated maps, you can just always use a minimally distorting conical or polar projection centered on the exact point you’re focusing on.
replyThat also happens to be broadly what you would get looking straight down at the earth from above that point, which seems like it would also be the least confusing option.
yeah, but when people are free to spin and zoom the virtual globe they understand perfectly how the projection relates to the real object, which they don't when it comes to maps
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