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Google maps was developed by Where 2 Technologies in Sydney. Google bought it in late 2004, same sort of time OSM started (in the UK) Microsoft AutoRoute preda
by iso1210 5y ago
Google maps was developed by Where 2 Technologies in Sydney. Google bought it in late 2004, same sort of time OSM started (in the UK)
Microsoft AutoRoute predated that by a decade - NextBase (A UK company) built it in 1988, I think Microsoft had bought it by the mid 90s.
The US is great at taking other peoples inventions, buying them, marketing them, and claiming them for itself. The rest of the world innovates, the US pumps it out in bulk.
- wreath 5y agoBut also those US companies brought this tech they bought to the masses. To say they were built by others anyway reduced the role big tech played here same way a naive developer thinks a company’s success is just because of code he wrote.
- iso1210 5y agoAmerica really wins in marketing and consumerism - especially when appealing to the American consumer
- sudosysgen 5y agoDo you think OSM was going to not bring the data to the masses? Or that no developper was going to make apps that used that data?
- wreath 5y agoThere is no way for us to know and I didn't say that w/o Google or other Big Tech we wouldn't be have these candies as someone described. Rather that we should acknowledge the role they played in distributing the tech they didn't create.
- sudosysgen 5y agoSure, they did bring them to the market. And they did play a role, which was not vital and that other companies were trying to do at the same time.