The battle for territory in digital cartography | The Economist
►http://www.economist.com/news/business/21723173-not-all-roads-lead-google-maps-battle-territory-digital-cartogra
Not all roads lead to Google Maps
Jun 10th 2017
IN THE 1940s Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentine writer, wrote a short story about mapping. It imagines an empire which surveys itself in such exhaustive detail that when unfolded, the perfectly complete 1:1 paper map covers the entire kingdom. Because it is unwieldy and thus largely useless, subsequent generations allow it to decay into tatters. Great scraps are left carpeting the deserts.