> There is too much stuff in the world to present on a map without absolutely overwhelming people
Nevertheless, I think that Google Maps et al. typically show far too little on the screen. My Dad tells me that he still prefers paper maps because he doesn't have to fiddle around with the zoom level to get things to show up. While I'm sure that Google has more data on most places than it could fit in a small window, when I look at my location in Google Maps, it looks very barren: in fact, it seems to prioritize showing me little 3d models of buildings over things that I care about, like street and place names. Paper maps are typically much denser, but I don't think that people 30 years ago were constantly "overwhelmed" by them.
In a world where you can plot a pin of yourself via gps on the map the need for street names, building names e.t.c. at higher zoom levels just doesn't matter because you don't need it to figure out where you actually are, with paper maps you did.
If adding that information to the map serves no need anymore but clutters it up, why do it?
Google Maps' refusal to show the name of the major(!) street names is infuriating. I don't need that information to determine where I am, I need it to figure out what street signs I need to be looking for so that I can get to where I am going. And the really infuriating thing is that it shows one random useless street somewhere until I zoom in until the street I want is the only thing on the screen.
I fired Google Maps and now use Apple Maps unless I'm looking for a business by name that I think is not mainstream enough to be on Apple Maps.
Nevertheless, I think that Google Maps et al. typically show far too little on the screen. My Dad tells me that he still prefers paper maps because he doesn't have to fiddle around with the zoom level to get things to show up. While I'm sure that Google has more data on most places than it could fit in a small window, when I look at my location in Google Maps, it looks very barren: in fact, it seems to prioritize showing me little 3d models of buildings over things that I care about, like street and place names. Paper maps are typically much denser, but I don't think that people 30 years ago were constantly "overwhelmed" by them.