Originally Posted by
shipwreck
True, but a paper map does not generally have a "bike route" function that recommends the poor road. If I get on a rutted dirt road using a paper map, then that somehow feels different to me, more like an adventure, the success of which depends on my own wits and decision making.
You can't blame Google Maps for that. Many paper maps don't show bike paths at all, you can't zoom in or use street view to see what the road looks like. No elevation chart or business search. Once I was plotting a route on Google Maps and it took some weird detour. It turned out a bridge on the main road was out.