this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2026
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[–] michaelmrose@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You said

"that even though computers should be rendering the world as a globe,"

They shouldn't a projection is actually useful for most people in most instances. Your screen is flat and rendering a 3D image within it would actually mean you can use less of it and see less information in a more confusing view which would ultimately be weird and pointless to the people viewing mostly what is in fact stylized data like which roads cross.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Your screen is flat, and the surface of the planet is essentially flat. If a program starts with a mercator projection and zooms in on a particular area it's always going to be a distorted view.

rendering a 3D image within it would actually mean you can use less of it and see less information in a more confusing view

Whaat? That's nonsense.

[–] michaelmrose@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why do you think literally every mapping app on earth shows a projection onto the given x pixels by y pixels rather than a 3D rendering of a curved space again?

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] michaelmrose@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago