

Google Maps/Yahoo Maps: Why Aren't NYC & Wash., DC on the Default Map? - j053003
http://www.41latitude.com/post/512232485/wheres-nyc

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kylec
Washington DC is there - it's labeled "District of Columbia"

~~~
j053003
Why not list both the "District" of Columbia and the "city" of Washington on
the same map?

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arst
While the city of Washington used to exist as a legal entity within the
District of Columbia, these days it's all just the District. Including both
D.C. and Washington, D.C. on the map would be including two names for the same
thing.

~~~
j053003
If that's true (and Wikipedia says that it is), then Google Maps _already_
_uses_ two names for the same thing:

Map showing the "District" of Columbia:
[http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.010787,-78.09082&#...](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.010787,-78.09082&spn=19.320998,28.78418&z=5)

Map showing the "City" of Washington:
[http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=38.548165,-77.34375&#...</a><p>Why not
just list them both?

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Maciek416
This is amusing and absolutely true.

The small town (population: 120,000) that I grew up appears on Google Maps
before NYC or Washington are visible.

~~~
pmjordan
Whoa. 120k is a small town these days?

(EDIT: Context: the town in which I grew up would be around number 90 on this
list:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Aus...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Austria)
)

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stretchwithme
Its probably decided by algorithm. It seems to that several states are very
small in that area and maybe too many names will obscure state borders.

~~~
rbranson
I wish people also appreciated how incredibly complex and nuanced
(semi)automated map labeling can be. It is ridiculous.

~~~
ryan_p8
We do. It's just that stuff like this is pretty glaring.

Google Maps was released over _five_ years ago now. If it were still in beta,
I'd understand, but…

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rbranson
The problem with maps is that they are half art. Who's to say showing New York
and Washington DC before showing Philadelphia is best? Maybe their reasoning
is that most people already know where New York and Washington are? It is
subjective, not a "glaring" bug.

~~~
ryan_p8
If you really believe that mapmaking decisions are "subjective", then you have
no business criticizing other people's "subjective" opinions about how maps
should be made.

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semanticist
Perhaps being an 'important' well-known city counts against being displayed.
The more well-known a city is, the less likely you need it to be displayed on
the most zoomed-out levels. You know where to click to zoom in if you want to
see New York City.

Rather than dismissing Google and Yahoo in favour of Bing, I'd be interested
to see if there's any actual user testing in favour one way or the other.
Otherwise, it's just uninformed opinion on what 'should' be the best way to
use a map.

~~~
newson_db
"Perhaps being an 'important' well-known city counts against being
displayed..."

Then why are London, Paris, Mumbai, Shanghai, Tokyo, Chicago, Los Angeles, and
San Francisco on the same map that New York isn't on?

~~~
semanticist
Because other weighting factors suggested they should be shown.

I wasn't implying a simplistic 'everyone knows where X is, don't show it'
system - just that being well known could counter-intuitively reduce the need
to show a label at some zoom levels.

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thesyndicate
This post is yet another example of the incredible inferiority complex of the
New York tech scene.

//sarcasm

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Hexstream
Honestly, my first thought was:

"To 'thwart' 'terrorists'."

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Vivtek
Special request of Homeland Security. If terrorists don't know where NYC and
Washington are, then they can't harm us. I can't believe anybody wouldn't be
aware of this in these days of heightened awareness.

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holygoat
"Given its immense importance…".

I wonder if Justin O'Beirne lives in NYC?

~~~
newson_db
"Given its immense importance..."

You're seriously going to argue that NYC isn't immensely important?

From Wikipedia: "New York is the most populous city in the United States, and
the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most
populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a
powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art,
fashion, research, education, and entertainment. As host of the United Nations
Headquarters, it is also an important center for international affairs."

When the aliens came to Earth in "Independence Day", they didn't blow up
Philadelphia... they blew up New York.

~~~
Perceval
_they didn't blow up Philadelphia... they blew up New York._

That's because they were scared of Philadelphians. We threw snowballs at Santa
after all.

