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"and as Maps is a cloud-based solution, the more people use it, the better it will get" Based on what I've read about the problems and their causes so far, usa
by talkingquickly 14y ago
"and as Maps is a cloud-based solution, the more people use it, the better it will get"
Based on what I've read about the problems and their causes so far, usage volume doesn't seem to addresses any of the problems except for increasing the likelihood errors will be spotted.
The fundamental problems seem to be around the way multiple data sources have been combined and in its current form I can't see how usage volume would improve this in any way??
It may well contribute to POI data and so make it 'better' but that isn't really what the complaints are about.
- jws 14y agoThe only problem I see here in the middle of the US is the sparse and wrong POI data. The tools to report fixes are on the Maps app already. If they have an automated system for processing these it could be fixed very quickly. People should remember that Google has that POI data because the crowd entered and maintained it. The same dynamic will work for Apple. Mass transit isn't an issue here, but I hope they get it to work before I go to Manhattan again.
- taligent 14y agoActually most of Google's POI data comes from established companies e.g. Yellow Pages. For whatever reason Apple has chosen not to seek out the same partnerships. Maybe they will get round to it. Maybe they are hoping for a true crowdsourced solution.
- fpgeek 14y agoRecently, an increasing amount of Google's POI data is coming from companies they own (e.g. Frommer's and Zagat). Somehow I think Apple will have trouble working out licensing deals with those providers.
- jws 14y agoMy business locations didn't show on Google until I entered them myself. That was years ago though, so things may have changed. The darker side of crowdsourcing: My tenant didn't show up on Google maps until someone entered them, apparently just so they could then attach a really angry negative review stemming from a bad experience with a different company that was infringing my tenants trademark in order to steal customers. Good luck getting that kind of mess out of Google.
- fpgeek 14y agoMass transit depends on your definition of "work". If you're fine hunting down third-party apps for all of your mass transit needs then you're fine. Quite possibly better than fine since some of those third-party apps cover places the bigger players have trouble with. If you'd like a baseline set of important cities that work out-of-the-box and want to avoid third-party transit apps as much as possible...
- jws 14y agoI mean mass transit isn't an issue because we don't really have it. There's a few million people living here and although we have a bus system, no one I know uses it. When I mentioned trying to get from my densely housed, grid street area to the airport with mass transit people considered that about the most bizarre thing they'd ever heard. (Google says about two hours on mass transit for the 15 minute drive.)
- BitMastro 14y agoYet I'm sure you realize that in other parts of the world that could not be the case. There was an article on HN a few months ago about this difference between USA and Europe. In USA having a car is almost mandatory, because of the distance between the cities and the state of public transport. In Europe not having a car is not not so uncommon (almost everyone of my friends and I don't have a car), especially if you live in a city.
- encoderer 14y agoRight, which is probably why he said "Mass transit isn't an issue here". Yes, we (americans, especially those on HN) get it. You have trains.