Jay Simons: student; amateur graphic designer; Slovakian; Internet cartographer. If the Web were divided into land masses, grouped along lines of latitude and meridians and flattened into a map on your desk, what would it look like? Map of the Internet 1.0 (hi-res version here) is Simons and partner Martin Vargic's first (but far from final) exploration of the Internet as a physical world.

The National Geographic-inspired print has grouped its constituents into 2 major hemispheres: the Old World Eastern land mass, populated by software and gaming companies, and Websites oriented more towards "real life"; and the New World Western continents, a compilation of sites whose presence typically does not travel beyond the virtual. The New World is further divided into a Northern continent of social networks, search Websites, video Websites, blogs, forums, and art Websites--the non-seedy stuff--and a Southwestern continent of porn, warez, and torrent sites. In Antarctica of the map lies the Great Southern Land of obsolete Websites and online services.

Map of the Internet 1.0 also includes 4 mini-maps along its bottom edge showcasing NSA surveillance by country, the most used social networks, the most used Internet browsers, and worldwide Internet penetration by country. As their reference for Website selection and size, Simons and Vargic relied predominantly on the list of Alexa Top 500 Websites.

High praise goes to Simons and Vargic from my corner. Map of the Internet 1.0 is cool. It also makes me grateful that the Worldwide Web isn't really a real world. I mean, if I had to travel to the equivalent of Bogota, Colombia and wade through a bunch of unidentified viruses just to watch free porn and feature films...shudder. I might have to consider paying for that stuff again.

Map pricing reflects a custom-sized 34" x 22" print on poster paper. Additional sizes and backing media are available at varying higher and lower costs.