Do virtual globes distort the Earth?
Claire Heald’s BBC News article “The map gap” is an interesting read (and name-checks Ogle Earth — thanks!) but at the risk of betraying my non-GIS background, it seems to me that some of the quoted cartographers are not all that acquainted with virtual globes. First, there is this: On a world scale, the pictures on Google Earth, and programs like it, look accurate. The view is less skewed than with some other projections, such as cartographic models used to set out the world. […] And [Google Earth] still does not solve the age-old problem. On a world scale, all’s well, “but when you zoom in you still get that distortion, because it’s on a flat screen”, says Mr Lennox. I would argue that 2D representations on computer screens of 3D virtual globes are not skewed or distorted at all. They show exactly what a one-eyed astronaut or one eyed airline passenger would see. But even if I was wrong on that point (and I don’t concede it), wouldn’t zooming in on Earth reduce distortion, as you’r
