cartography
I'm referring to this icon
I'm just curious as to its origins and what the name of the symbol is. If memory serves, Google Maps introduced it and the other mapping libraries adopted it. Would anybody know what the symbol is called or is it just a "map marker"? Did it exist before web maps or is purely a product of the web map age? Or is just a stylized pin?
There are a lot of great bad examples at http://cartastrophe.wordpress.com/. For example this map of Europe (part of a world map that uses colors excessively and without obvious purpose):
Besides the coloring, the labeling on this map is a mess.
I'm pretty sure we have Google to thank. Take a look at the original EPSG code WKID for Web Mercator. What does 900913 look like? Helps if you're at least a little l33t.
When Google Maps blew up a few years ago (2005ish), everyone started copying Google. This included Virtual Earth/Bing, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps and eventually Esri. Everyone wanted/needed to be compatible with the most popular web mapping platform. It has been the standard ever since.
Edit: per mkennedy's comment, changed EPSG code to WKID
Best Answer
Jens Rasmussen, one of the inventors of Google Maps, a Danish computer programmer is credited with the creation of what is officially known as the
map pinorpushpin.See this New York Times article which is referenced in his official wikipedia page