this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2026
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Mildly Interesting
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Mercator is bad as a world map, but the reason why it's used on most online maps is that those online maps are usually used as local maps, where Mercator is a very good projection. It would be good if online maps switched projections if you zoomed out beyond a certain level.
Apple maps (probably one of the most widely used digital maps, whether you like it or not) switches to a spherical projection as you zoom out. I'm actually surprised google maps doesn't do the same.