"I feel like I need to formally apologize for the lack of activity on this channel. The main reason for the lack of videos is the fact I've lost interest in mapping. Mapping is a time-consuming process that requires immense dedication, of which I no longer posses."
- Eradiate, explaining the creation of A Byte Of Data.
Erik (born 2000-2001), commonly known by his two alternate mapping channels Ion Mapping and Eradiate, his historical mapping channel Antion, his game developer persona and twitter username Plan B, or by his data visualization channel, A Byte of Data, is a Hong Kongese former mapper and indie game designer. He began alternatively mapping on December 21, 2014, as Ion Mapping, attempted historical mapping on Antion on December 5, 2015, yet soon abandoned Antion, and on December 29, 2015, Erik created a alternate persona known as Eradiate. He would eventually switch to this channel as his permanent and main image due to the critical acclaim it received. Eradiate quit mapping in March 2017, and pursued designing indie games. He returned to YouTube, on January 16, 2019, by making A Byte of Data, a channel dedicated to visualizing data.
Ion Mapping was a fairly average mapper for his age, and gained a relatively large amount of traction and praise throughout the mapping community. However, on Eradiate, Erik created Alternate Future of Europe, and received critical acclaim from all fronts as the best mapper of up to that point. In modern mapping, many simply call him good for his time and sub-par in modern standards, yet many still consider Eradiate the greatest mapper of all time, and due to the relative simplicity of his plot when compared to other praised mapping content such as the Proxima-Imperialis Multiverse, Eradiate is often the first channel shown to newcomers being introduced to mapping.
Between the creation of Eradiate and the abandonment of Ion, Erik created a history-oriented channel known as Antion. However, the channel never gained sufficient traction and was also abandoned, despite some praise from veteran mappers.
After mapping, Erik began an indie game designer named Plan B. He created Riftwalker, an arcade space shooter, on October 14, 2018. Despite irrelevancy throughout the general gaming community, Riftwalker was praised by Mapperdonia, partly due to the fame of Eradiate. However, it was criticized by some for its harsh difficulty spikes.
On January 16, 2019, Erik created A Byte of Data, a data visualization channel. It was met with joy throughout most of the mapping community, despite Erik promising never again to make mapping content.