Don't forget OpenStreetMap <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.openstreetmap.org/</a> a Free wiki map of the world. It has a very unique style that I think is very nice. One of their statements is "We make beautiful maps"
Just this week, zooming in my local city Google map, I was struck by the apparent importance of random small businesses.<p>At 'z=17', I'm getting a 'dance academy' and similar shops I never heard of, or noticed, labeled at the same level as a huge Sheraton hotel. A nearby residential hotel, which I also never noticed, gets to shout its name in all caps ...
I've long lamented how none of these are anywhere near as beautiful as a decent printed map. Some of the OSM projects (e.g. toposm) are better, but still not as good as (say) Rand-McNally or ADC. On my hope-to-do list is to write a renderer for OSM data that produces really beautiful maps meant for printing rather than viewing on a <100dpi screen.
I first read this title as Catastrophic Design Differences, which isn't far off. The author is biased in favor of Google Maps (it's a bit hard to differentiate between Google's 1st and 2nd level city markers), but I like the comparison.
The author clearly prefers Google Maps and is so biased in his analysis it is worthless.<p>Take the coloring of highways. I actually find Bing's use of multiple colors greatly increases legibility. The increase in contrast also makes it easier to scan over the map. I cannot see how the author can state that less colors results in increased legibility.<p>Bing Maps to me has a superior coloring scheme. When I look at Google Maps they look like FisherPrice drew the map. Bing Maps' warm and desaturated color scheme makes it feel more mature and consequently much more pleasant to look at.