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"They're not better than their competitors" I guess my mileage varies widely here, they're far and away the best.

by Steko 15y ago

TillE 15y ago
But OSM is "good enough" for most purposes. It's a real shame that Google have decided they no longer want to be the universal, free solution for maps. They were the standard for so long. I don't understand what they're doing, especially with the ridiculous pricing.
- zmmmmm 15y ago
  Well, they were sued for providing maps for free: http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/02/02/french_judge_says_free_google_maps_are_anticompetitive_and_illegal http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/02/02/french_... I don't quite understand why they are charging as much as they are (pretty much unaffordable for a low margin, high traffic business), but it does seem like the free ride had to end.
- robryan 15y ago
  They could easily monetize it and still keep these customers. The scheme they have chosen seems all about making money in the short term. One thing they could do is open up local ads to 3rd party maps use in return for keeping them free. Also just charging a rate that sites can afford would be good, google has more than enough data to decide what the average site with high traffic can afford.
- Steko 15y ago
  Is their pricing really that bad? I'd assume it's just what's required to break even.
  - redstar504 15y ago
    My startup utilizes maps and we were thinking of using Google until they quoted us $18,000 USD/year
sp332 15y ago
In my area, Bing has much better imagery than Google. They have for years. Google Maps has better text layout than Bing, but Bing Maps has several features that Google Maps doesn't. The orthogonal "Bird's Eye" view lets you see the map from an angle, and you can rotate to see all 4 sides with the arrows in the top-right. http://binged.it/Iaa4xm http://binged.it/Iaa4xm
- chimeracoder 15y ago
  Wow, thanks for sharing that. I just saw New York from a whole new angle... literally...!
- yonran 15y ago
  The 45° “bird’s eye” imagery was a feature that Bing had first, but Google has been adding it gradually (including at Cupertino where you linked). If you enable the MapsGL experiment, the Google version also uses 3D buildings to rotate very smoothly compared to Bing.
- minikomi 15y ago
  Fantastic! Amazing to be able to rotate my neighborhood through 4 different angles here in Tokyo.

"They're not better than their competitors" I guess my mileage varies widely here, they're far and away the best.

by Steko 15y ago

"They're not better than their competitors" I guess my mileage varies widely here, they're far and away the best.

TillE 15y ago

But OSM is "good enough" for most purposes. It's a real shame that Google have decided they no longer want to be the universal, free solution for maps. They were the standard for so long. I don't understand what they're doing, especially with the ridiculous pricing.

zmmmmm 15y ago
Well, they were sued for providing maps for free: http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/02/02/french_judge_says_free_google_maps_are_anticompetitive_and_illegal http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/02/02/french_... I don't quite understand why they are charging as much as they are (pretty much unaffordable for a low margin, high traffic business), but it does seem like the free ride had to end.
robryan 15y ago
They could easily monetize it and still keep these customers. The scheme they have chosen seems all about making money in the short term. One thing they could do is open up local ads to 3rd party maps use in return for keeping them free. Also just charging a rate that sites can afford would be good, google has more than enough data to decide what the average site with high traffic can afford.
Steko 15y ago
Is their pricing really that bad? I'd assume it's just what's required to break even.
- redstar504 15y ago
  My startup utilizes maps and we were thinking of using Google until they quoted us $18,000 USD/year

sp332 15y ago

In my area, Bing has much better imagery than Google. They have for years. Google Maps has better text layout than Bing, but Bing Maps has several features that Google Maps doesn't. The orthogonal "Bird's Eye" view lets you see the map from an angle, and you can rotate to see all 4 sides with the arrows in the top-right. http://binged.it/Iaa4xm http://binged.it/Iaa4xm

chimeracoder 15y ago
Wow, thanks for sharing that. I just saw New York from a whole new angle... literally...!
yonran 15y ago
The 45° “bird’s eye” imagery was a feature that Bing had first, but Google has been adding it gradually (including at Cupertino where you linked). If you enable the MapsGL experiment, the Google version also uses 3D buildings to rotate very smoothly compared to Bing.
minikomi 15y ago
Fantastic! Amazing to be able to rotate my neighborhood through 4 different angles here in Tokyo.