On Friday Jan 12 2024, I saw this post on my fav sosh network and I knew: in the very near future maps will be either would-give-a-scriptorium-monk-a-headache detailed, or total tossed-off dreck.
There will be no middle ground.
Now the computer could make 1) nav maps 2) alright-at-range decor maps 3) biz dashboard maps; that covers 99.999% of map use. You no longer needed a mapmaker to make a map that the median person might use or buy.
What’s left over: sumptuous baroque craft, the domain of obsessives. Cartography’s ne plus ultra was coming, and I hoped to see it in my lifetime.
