[nemonemo]

Those two types of maps are targeting different groups -- paper maps targeting the somewhat advanced users who know the basic navigation and have little need to consult the legend. The electronic maps target much wider audience and can be dumbed down since people can interact with the map. Sure, the electronic maps probably can stuff more info to be shown at a glance, but my impression is that they chose not to.

[tuatoru]

> paper maps targeting the somewhat advanced users

Since when did using a map become an "advanced" life skill? Is "Idiocracy" becoming a documentary?

[nerdbert]

I am reliably amazed by how many people are completely unable to read a map these days. I hate turn-by-turn directions and never use them, with the result that I am naturally paying enough attention that I can always find my way back to anywhere I've been. People I travel with, who let themselves be led around from one corner to the next with their nose buried in a screen, can't understand how I do it.

[eternityforest]

Since it became unnecessary for most people? Phones can break, so it's always good to know the paper skills... but it's definitely not an everyday thing anymore.

Besides, even before phones, it was somewhat advanced, they were never easy, as shown by how often people got lost, and still get lost with perfectly functional GPS just by making one bad turn because their memory failed since last time they checked the screen.

[tuatoru]

Next you'll be telling me that people don't know how to darn their socks any more.

[eternityforest]

I'd even argue that darning socks might be more relevant to everyday life than map reading, even though map reading is more important in emergencies and people should probably know both.

If you can darn socks you can probably fix holes in your pants, and if you have a car charger, getting lost happens a lot less than clothes repair, at least in the city.

[worthless-trash]

I dunno man, I think most people would be lost without the iDarn app.

[eternityforest]

iDarn sells data to the NSAGBCP, darnIT is well worth the subscription and has a community tier that only crashes a few times in 10min.

[kortilla]

Some of these things are too annoying to do at scale so they just skipped it rather than choosing to intentionally dumb it down.

Making the call on what is a “scenic route” isn’t something you can just pull directly from highway department data.

[dmurray]

You could predict it from Streetview data though! A small bit of computer vision would go a long way here. Actually this seems like a fun project for someone inside or (if the API is not too throttled) outside Google.

[eternityforest]

Or better yet, when someone drives anywhere, predict if there was a faster way they could have gone, and take that as a candidate scenic view.