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They are improving your life in exchange for information about you and the places you visit. Their product is closed, the proprietary data is not accessible out
by blub 11y ago
They are improving your life in exchange for information about you and the places you visit. Their product is closed, the proprietary data is not accessible outside their apps, or if they wish to license it.
OpenStreetMap is improving the world.
- mrb 11y ago"the proprietary data is not accessible outside their apps" This is not true. Many APIs are available, specifically to allow building 3rd-party apps: Directions API, Distance Matrix API, Elevation API, Geocoding API, and so on. See https://developers.google.com/maps/pricing-and-plans/ https://developers.google.com/maps/pricing-and-plans/
- ching_wow_ka 11y agoI think you'll agree that there's a big jump from being able to access an API X times a day to having access to a data dump.
- baby 11y ago> They are improving your life in exchange for information about you and the places you visit So they are improving the world and for free. I'm glad we all agree
- glitchdout 11y agoinformation about you and the places you visit != free
- superuser2 11y agoNot exactly free, but the places you visit can be observed with the naked eye from public property, and a network of cameras feeding into ANPR and facial recognition would be a hell of a lot cheaper (and more reliable) than a mapping product. Not to mention that realtime traffic data and intelligent routing around congestion is only workable by tracking individual vehicles on the road and recording how long it takes them to get from A to B.
- kuschku 11y ago> Not to mention that realtime traffic data and intelligent routing around congestion is only workable by tracking individual vehicles on the road and recording how long it takes them to get from A to B. Wrong. There is a better solution, used for traffic lights that adapt to traffic: Use an inductive loop to count every vehicle and its speed at ever lane of every intersection and exit. Far lower cost yet, and provides far better data. (Also is totally anonymous)
- superuser2 11y ago>Far lower cost Um, what? Lower cost to dig up a street and install infrastructure inside it, than to use the cheap and ubiquitous internet and GPS connected computers that are already in every car?
- Spivak 11y agoThe sum total cost paid by users of maps in data charges and electricity alone outweigh the cost of implementing a public system. Just because the cost is distributed does not mean it's not being paid.
- ucaetano 11y agoSo by your logic, unless you're giving something absolutely for free you're not improving the world?
- javajosh 11y agoFeeding data into a proprietary system involves the risk that your access to that system may be revoked for any reason by the owner of that system at any point in the future. The threat of revocation, in turn, can be used as leverage to force you to accept damaged version of the system you like, with "damage" ranging from charging money to unwanted surveillance to unwanted advertising to software failure. Some people think that this risk is unbearable. Others weigh the economic realities and make a case-by-case judgement. The simple truth is that it costs money to host a good tool that's always on, doesn't lose people's data, that keeps up with changes in technology and requirements.
- omonra 11y agoYou still haven't demonstrated why they are not 'improving the world'. They may not be doing it to the extent of your liking, but they are certainly are improving it (if only for the people who choose to use their service).
- BogusIKnow 11y agoI try to use open street map over and over again, b/c it has the better data. But then their site and UX are so bad, I always cry when I use it for the lost effort of so many people.
- ForHackernews 11y agoCheck out http://maps.me/ http://maps.me/ It's a really nice mobile app interface that uses OSM data.
- BogusIKnow 11y agoThanks will take a look
- dublinben 11y agoThe main OpenStreetMap.org site is really intended mainly for those contributing to the map. They don't make it clear enough that end users should probably be using one of the many other sites based on their data.
- BogusIKnow 11y agoWhich is part of the problem. Suppose maps.google.com would only be to report errors and you need to find another site that works.
- dublinben 11y agoIt's only a problem if you think the OSM project is trying to build a replacement for maps.google.com. Since they're not, it's not a problem. Most users of their free location database are not using it directly on the OSM.org site, but through other apps and services. It is rightly the job of these 3rd parties to deliver excellent user interfaces for the data.
- cromwellian 11y agoCommercial proprietary products have positive and negative externalities. These can improve the world even if they're not free. We have am mixed capitalist system of free and publicly funded advancements as well as privately funded advancements. The internet as it exists today is a demonstrate of that fact, as is the mobile smartphone market. This has obviously improved the lives of billions of people and would not have existed without both private (proprietary) and public contributions.
- mindcrime 11y agoThey're both "improving the world" by some standard, but not quite in the same way. There's nothing wrong with for-profit services, and plenty of "for profit stuff" absolutely makes the world better. BUT... as technologists / hackers and people with (presumably) a broader vision, I think the onus is on us to prefer and to advocate for services which are "open" or "free" / "libre" (without getting too deeply into the definitions of "open" and/or "free" here). I would say that it would be wrong to stay that Google Maps doesn't make the world a better place, but I'd also agree with your general sentiment and say let's do all we can to promote OpenStreetMap and the like.