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I read the post and it's mentioned many times that OSM is as good as Google Maps. Others argue "its just about the money". Why would someone want to pay for a s
by mmwako 15y ago
I read the post and it's mentioned many times that OSM is as good as Google Maps. Others argue "its just about the money". Why would someone want to pay for a service that you have to pay for and its just as good as the alternatives?
I think the key factor here is something Google does very, very well: UI. There is just something about google maps that makes it more appealing to the eye. And that's crucial to create a great service. I saw a post long ago (i couldn't find :/) that compared the graphic style of Maps, Bing and others. Google just nails layout, ease of understanding and other factors. I believe it is this key factor that makes the difference.
- freyfogle 15y agoAgree, Google does very well with their UI. But so do others. Check out Leaflet for example http://leaflet.cloudmade.com/ http://leaflet.cloudmade.com/ More importantly, with OSM you can do whatever YOU want with the actual underlying data. A great example are these beautiful maps: http://mike.teczno.com/notes/osm-us-terrain-layer/foreground.html http://mike.teczno.com/notes/osm-us-terrain-layer/foreground...
- zobzu 15y agohttp://leaflet.cloudmade.com/ http://leaflet.cloudmade.com/ This url you have put is actually much better than Google maps somehow. It's way smoother and faster. Pretty cool!
- rsoto 15y ago>I saw a post long ago (i couldn't find :/) It seems the site is down, but here's archive.org's cache: http://web.archive.org/web/20110208212952/http://www.41latitude.com/post/2072504768/google-maps-label-readability http://web.archive.org/web/20110208212952/http://www.41latit... http://web.archive.org/web/20101223050944/http://www.41latitude.com/post/2159061658/google-maps-label-reability-2 http://web.archive.org/web/20101223050944/http://www.41latit...
- wensing 15y agoDefinitely agree. This is why we (Stormpulse) not only avoided Google Maps but spent 1,000's of hours designing the UI. I would avoid mapstraction for the same reason: we see mapping as a core competency of our business. YMMV of course.
- Semiapies 15y ago"I read the post and it's mentioned many times that OSM is as good as Google Maps." And it's also mentioned repeatedly that they were perfectly willing to continue with Google Maps until they had a bad sales experience and were estimated a figure that they couldn't pay. When you say that and you put the charging issue third, it makes everything else look like a rationalization. ETA: And as I go to OpenStreetMaps and see it struggle to serve me a page showing my house (and showing exactly the same wrong place for my house that Google Maps does, because it's using the exact same data), it doesn't much make a case for anything but "well, at least it's free".
- yellowbkpk 15y agoWhat do you mean "struggle"? The page loads slowly? It's showing data but it's wrong? Google Maps and OSM don't use the exact same data. What's wrong with OSM? How can I help you fix it? OSM is very, very good in some areas and not so good in others (especially in the US).
- Semiapies 15y agoYes, it loaded glacially when I tried it, and there was a link begging me to donate for a hardware upgrade. It showed precisely the same wrong location, given a search address, that Google Maps shows - which is pretty impressive if they're somehow not using the same data, there. As for fixing it, fix it yourself. I'm not a cartographer, and I'm not actually interested in this project or in being hectored by someone to pitch in on a project I don't give a damn about.
- yellowbkpk 15y agoCan you give an example of the exactly matching wrong data? I'd love to fix it myself but can only fix it if I know where the problem is.
- Semiapies 15y agoI'm sorry, but the search address is my home address, and I'm not going to give that out to you.