Should this be a map or 500 maps?

Access to the “500 maps”

• Multiple readers wanted to see the original priest-made maps.
• Links were shared to a related Spanish atlas and academic work; full priest collection appears to sit in Spanish national archives.
• The writer of the piece notes that, as far as they know, the complete set hasn’t been digitized; only a handful of higher-res examples are currently available.

Design of articles and the modern web

• Several commenters dislike “overdesigned” news pieces that hijack scrolling and add interactive gimmicks, preferring simple text plus a few images.
• Others argue that, when done well, richer visuals and interactivity can help understanding, especially for deep analysis pieces.
• There’s a broader tension between creativity and usability: many feel current websites have converged on a uniform, bland template that optimizes scanning and metrics.
• Reader behavior is diverse, so fixed “fancy” reading flows often clash with individual habits.

Maps, navigation apps, and customization

• Strong frustration with mainstream map apps (especially Google Maps) focusing on “fastest route” car navigation and limiting user control.
• Desired features: avoid or favor specific roads, separate “commute” vs “leisure” modes, minimize stops/turns, avoid roundabouts, better cycling and hiking support, and atlas-like overviews of physical geography.
• Some praise highly configurable or niche tools (OsmAnd, Organic Maps, Gaia, cyclists’ and runners’ tools), but dislike needing many separate apps.
• Debate over whether richer per-user routing constraints are technically or economically hard vs mainly product/priority decisions.
• Distinction drawn between “maps as planning/orientation tools” and “navigation plus ads”; some argue modern apps are good products but poor maps.

Modularity, expressiveness, and standardization

• The article’s claim that modularity trades off with expressiveness resonated with many, but some see it as incomplete without adding “complexity” as a third axis.
• Examples raised: HTML as a flexible shared protocol vs rigid site builders; surveys and NPS where standard questions hide individual nuance; devices converging into smartphones at the cost of specialized tools.
• Several emphasize that standardization is not inherently good or bad; it brings both power and loss, so its use should be a conscious tradeoff.
• A desire surfaces for interoperable mapping standards so people could combine multiple data sources into “one map,” though existing GIS standards are rarely used in consumer apps.