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When Pokemon Go switched from Gmaps to OSM, the quality drop was dramatic and noticeable. I want OSM to be a real competitor, but I think it represents a perfec

When Pokemon Go switched from Gmaps to OSM, the quality drop was dramatic and noticeable. I want OSM to be a real competitor, but I think it represents a perfect example of how difficult it is to compete with Google Maps. It counts as "Good Enough", but man, it's disappointing to see how inferior Pokemon Go maps are these days. Roads that don't exist, buildings in random places with roads going through them, and map data that seems manipulated for game advantage (by players contributing to OSM for gameplay reasons, not for accuracy reason) ... and this is in the midtown area of a top 10 US city.

Reason077 7y ago
> "Roads that don't exist, buildings in random places with roads going through them" This is unfortunate and surprising. In my experience (mostly UK/Europe) the quality of street data in OSM matches, and in some cases exceeds that of Google Maps. (Points-of-interest data does not, however). If you do notice errors and omissions, fixes can be made in seconds by getting an OSM account and clicking the "edit" button on OpenStreetMap.org. In recent years the development of the "ID" editor has significantly lowered the barriers to entry of editing OSM. > "map data that seems manipulated for game advantage" Perhaps OSM needs some sort of Wikipedia-style spam detection/prevention if this is happening on a wide scale.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  If you do notice errors and omissions, fixes can be made in seconds by getting an OSM account and clicking the "edit" button on OpenStreetMap.org. In recent years the development of the "ID" editor has significantly lowered the barriers to entry of editing OSM. This is the same argument that keeps every year from being the year of Linux on the desktop. "My computer crashed!" "Oh, just become a Linux kernel developer and fix it yourself."
  - rurp 7y ago
    Comparing a text edit on a website to becoming a Linux kernel developer is like comparing picking apples to running an industrial agriculture company.
    - wtallis 7y ago
      The act of contributing an edit to OSM is vastly simpler than fixing a kernel bug. But OSM does still have the massive barrier to entry in that if you are using an application built on OSM data, it is usually not easy to realize this and understand that OSM is where you need to go to fix a map error, unless you are already familiar with OSM.
      - rmc 7y ago
        > it is usually not easy to realize this and understand that OSM is where you need to go to fix a map error The OSM licence requires that people using OSM data attribute OSM, i.e. that their users are aware that the data comes from OSM. In theory this means that the final user should know that OSM is where they should go to fix data issues. But, alas, it's often not followed that well...
        red75prime 7y ago
        Also 99/1 rule. Inaccuracy can be not a significant nuisance/worth the effort/known to 1% who contribute.
        sokoloff 7y ago
        Imagine the average Pokémon Go user; if they even read the boilerplate that stood between them and playing the game, how many of them understood what role OSM data played in their experience, realized what the word “open” meant, and correctly concluded that they could do something to influence/correct the situation vs just thinking the game had a bug or glitch?
        wtallis 7y ago
        If you're not already familiar with what OSM is, the copyright notice is really not going to be enough to alert the user to the fact that OSM works differently from commercial map data suppliers and can easily accept user contributions.
        jakear 7y ago
        So when my grand mother has an issue with her app, she’s sure to notice that it says “open street maps” in the corner and go to the website, make an account, and contribute more accurate data? I don’t think so. Really, it’s not even an age thing. I work in tech. I visit HN on the regular. OSM, Google, and Apple all have inaccurate data about my daily commute to work. They all say a path that exists doesn’t. Have I don’t anything about it? Absolutely not.
  - jschwartzi 7y ago
    This is exactly why Linux is such a good development tool.
Kiro 7y ago
No idea why you're getting downvoted since anyone who plays Pokemon Go can attest to this. It has gotten unbelievably bad since they switched to OSM.
CobrastanJorji 7y ago
I'm far from a power Pokemon Go player, and I live in a city that's likely to have very good map coverage, but those caveats asides I didn't know that this even happened.
est31 7y ago
I agree that there are disadvantages in OpenStreetMap. In other parts of the world, Google maps is worse. However, for showing which parts of a city would be dead by a nuke, you don't need to have every road laid out accurately.

Reason077 7y ago

> "Roads that don't exist, buildings in random places with roads going through them" This is unfortunate and surprising. In my experience (mostly UK/Europe) the quality of street data in OSM matches, and in some cases exceeds that of Google Maps. (Points-of-interest data does not, however). If you do notice errors and omissions, fixes can be made in seconds by getting an OSM account and clicking the "edit" button on OpenStreetMap.org. In recent years the development of the "ID" editor has significantly lowered the barriers to entry of editing OSM. > "map data that seems manipulated for game advantage" Perhaps OSM needs some sort of Wikipedia-style spam detection/prevention if this is happening on a wide scale.

reaperducer 7y ago
If you do notice errors and omissions, fixes can be made in seconds by getting an OSM account and clicking the "edit" button on OpenStreetMap.org. In recent years the development of the "ID" editor has significantly lowered the barriers to entry of editing OSM. This is the same argument that keeps every year from being the year of Linux on the desktop. "My computer crashed!" "Oh, just become a Linux kernel developer and fix it yourself."
- rurp 7y ago
  Comparing a text edit on a website to becoming a Linux kernel developer is like comparing picking apples to running an industrial agriculture company.
  - wtallis 7y ago
    The act of contributing an edit to OSM is vastly simpler than fixing a kernel bug. But OSM does still have the massive barrier to entry in that if you are using an application built on OSM data, it is usually not easy to realize this and understand that OSM is where you need to go to fix a map error, unless you are already familiar with OSM.
    - rmc 7y ago
      > it is usually not easy to realize this and understand that OSM is where you need to go to fix a map error The OSM licence requires that people using OSM data attribute OSM, i.e. that their users are aware that the data comes from OSM. In theory this means that the final user should know that OSM is where they should go to fix data issues. But, alas, it's often not followed that well...
      - red75prime 7y ago
        Also 99/1 rule. Inaccuracy can be not a significant nuisance/worth the effort/known to 1% who contribute.
      - sokoloff 7y ago
        Imagine the average Pokémon Go user; if they even read the boilerplate that stood between them and playing the game, how many of them understood what role OSM data played in their experience, realized what the word “open” meant, and correctly concluded that they could do something to influence/correct the situation vs just thinking the game had a bug or glitch?
      - wtallis 7y ago
        If you're not already familiar with what OSM is, the copyright notice is really not going to be enough to alert the user to the fact that OSM works differently from commercial map data suppliers and can easily accept user contributions.
      - jakear 7y ago
        So when my grand mother has an issue with her app, she’s sure to notice that it says “open street maps” in the corner and go to the website, make an account, and contribute more accurate data? I don’t think so. Really, it’s not even an age thing. I work in tech. I visit HN on the regular. OSM, Google, and Apple all have inaccurate data about my daily commute to work. They all say a path that exists doesn’t. Have I don’t anything about it? Absolutely not.
- jschwartzi 7y ago
  This is exactly why Linux is such a good development tool.

Kiro 7y ago

No idea why you're getting downvoted since anyone who plays Pokemon Go can attest to this. It has gotten unbelievably bad since they switched to OSM.

CobrastanJorji 7y ago

I'm far from a power Pokemon Go player, and I live in a city that's likely to have very good map coverage, but those caveats asides I didn't know that this even happened.

est31 7y ago

I agree that there are disadvantages in OpenStreetMap. In other parts of the world, Google maps is worse. However, for showing which parts of a city would be dead by a nuke, you don't need to have every road laid out accurately.