6 ms·

Why NUKEMAP isn't on Google Maps anymore (2019)

134 points by fanf2 9mo ago

deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
Photogrammaton 9mo ago
I've been following Alex Wellerstein off and on for a few years now, since I discovered that he was a science adviser for a crazed nuclear-history TV series called Manh(a)ttan, so I read this post about NUKEMAP when it originally appeared. I wonder whether the situation with Google Maps is any different now. I'm not a developer, so I don't need to know. I'm just curious.
- embedding-shape 9mo ago
  > I wonder whether the situation with Google Maps is any different now. I'm not a developer, so I don't need to know. I'm just curious. As the Google Maps APIs/libraries already exited the "growth" phase where the focus is acquiring new users, and entered the "squeeze" phase, I'd say it's worse today than it was in 2019.
mystraline 9mo ago
Since then, Open Street Maps is self-hostable and supports all of these calls you'd need to remake this. And no throwing $1500/month at google for what amounts to 3 colored circles on a map.
- RicoElectrico 9mo ago
  *OpenStreetMap. Seems today the best solution is to self-host Protomaps which offer very fresh OSM extracts, and if HTTP range requests are on the table, single-file hosting of the whole world map.
  - softskunk 9mo ago
    it doesn’t even need to be particularly fresh. for the purposes of this map, it could update just once or twice a decade with no real value loss to anyone using it.
- runjake 9mo ago
  OpenStreetMap. No "s", no spaces. Happy hacking! :) https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenMapTiles https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenMapTiles There are various ways to implement a self-hosted OpenStreetMap. Here's one: https://blog.netmanageit.com/openstreetmap-server-self-hosted-setup-guide-howto/ https://blog.netmanageit.com/openstreetmap-server-self-hoste...
jmuguy 9mo ago
I came so close to getting our app off of Google Maps a few months ago, we'd be saving literally thousands a month. But the "look" of the map from open street map, map tiler, etc was deemed too different and the team was scared it would negatively impact our users. The Maps API is definitely getting worse, and the pricing setup seems like it was cooked up by someone from Microsoft. Also Maplibre and its various wrappers are so much nicer to work it.
- jtbaker 9mo ago
  I feel like with custom vector based styles, you should be able to get pretty dang close to cloning the look of it? Also subjectively, I find the protomaps basemap themes to be much nicer.
  - jmuguy 9mo ago
    Yeah I agree, I found dozens of options that look (subjectively!) a hell of a lot better.
- tdeck 9mo ago
  Would it be possible to run an AB test?
  - cwmma 9mo ago
    not OP but the google maps API doesn't actually support other vector tiles (and other map libraries are not allowed to use the google map basemap) which means it's not easy to just have two versions of the site that differ only in basemap
  - jmuguy 9mo ago
    Possibly but we don't have much to measure which is "better" - maybe could just ask people to give thumbs up or down.
- bfayers 9mo ago
  I find that the OpenFreeMap[1] 'Liberty' style looks fairly close to Google Maps. 1: https://openfreemap.org/ https://openfreemap.org/
rvnx 9mo ago
Wait until someone writes a script doing a loop or auto-refresh and you get charged 100'000 USD. For such, Google is very dangerous (lot of nightmare stories), you have to avoid as much as possible their public API services.
- ProofHouse 9mo ago
  Yup. Avoid Google services especially map at all costs
DonHopkins 9mo ago
Google Maps is just Spam spelled backwards.
- SequoiaHope 9mo ago
  spaM elgooG
  - mbirth 9mo ago
    It’s actually Spanish: Spam El Goog
ProofHouse 9mo ago
That map pricing change stole literally months of my life having to rip out google from an app I spend months building it into. F Google
maelito 9mo ago
Protomaps should have been cited.
EdwardDiego 9mo ago
I never knew about MISSILEMAP, and am happy to report that no Russian missiles, not even the Satan II appear to have the range to reach New Zealand. ...ohhhh, that's why Peter Thiel has citizenship here.
wcallahan 9mo ago
I do a lot of maps API calls, and found I get better results (and can save money) by using multiple providers. So I use Apple Maps, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap, and Google Maps… sometimes to check the results with multiple providers, and sometimes to divvy up the free allotment. For anyone using Java/Kotlin/JVM, I made an SDK for Apple Maps: https://github.com/WilliamAGH/apple-maps-java https://github.com/WilliamAGH/apple-maps-java which is one with a generous included tier.

134 points by fanf2 9mo ago

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

I've been following Alex Wellerstein off and on for a few years now, since I discovered that he was a science adviser for a crazed nuclear-history TV series called Manh(a)ttan, so I read this post about NUKEMAP when it originally appeared. I wonder whether the situation with Google Maps is any different now. I'm not a developer, so I don't need to know. I'm just curious.

embedding-shape 9mo ago
> I wonder whether the situation with Google Maps is any different now. I'm not a developer, so I don't need to know. I'm just curious. As the Google Maps APIs/libraries already exited the "growth" phase where the focus is acquiring new users, and entered the "squeeze" phase, I'd say it's worse today than it was in 2019.

mystraline 9mo ago

Since then, Open Street Maps is self-hostable and supports all of these calls you'd need to remake this. And no throwing $1500/month at google for what amounts to 3 colored circles on a map.

RicoElectrico 9mo ago
*OpenStreetMap. Seems today the best solution is to self-host Protomaps which offer very fresh OSM extracts, and if HTTP range requests are on the table, single-file hosting of the whole world map.
- softskunk 9mo ago
  it doesn’t even need to be particularly fresh. for the purposes of this map, it could update just once or twice a decade with no real value loss to anyone using it.
runjake 9mo ago
OpenStreetMap. No "s", no spaces. Happy hacking! :) https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenMapTiles https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenMapTiles There are various ways to implement a self-hosted OpenStreetMap. Here's one: https://blog.netmanageit.com/openstreetmap-server-self-hosted-setup-guide-howto/ https://blog.netmanageit.com/openstreetmap-server-self-hoste...

jmuguy 9mo ago

I came so close to getting our app off of Google Maps a few months ago, we'd be saving literally thousands a month. But the "look" of the map from open street map, map tiler, etc was deemed too different and the team was scared it would negatively impact our users. The Maps API is definitely getting worse, and the pricing setup seems like it was cooked up by someone from Microsoft. Also Maplibre and its various wrappers are so much nicer to work it.

jtbaker 9mo ago
I feel like with custom vector based styles, you should be able to get pretty dang close to cloning the look of it? Also subjectively, I find the protomaps basemap themes to be much nicer.
- jmuguy 9mo ago
  Yeah I agree, I found dozens of options that look (subjectively!) a hell of a lot better.
tdeck 9mo ago
Would it be possible to run an AB test?
- cwmma 9mo ago
  not OP but the google maps API doesn't actually support other vector tiles (and other map libraries are not allowed to use the google map basemap) which means it's not easy to just have two versions of the site that differ only in basemap
- jmuguy 9mo ago
  Possibly but we don't have much to measure which is "better" - maybe could just ask people to give thumbs up or down.
bfayers 9mo ago
I find that the OpenFreeMap[1] 'Liberty' style looks fairly close to Google Maps. 1: https://openfreemap.org/ https://openfreemap.org/

rvnx 9mo ago

Wait until someone writes a script doing a loop or auto-refresh and you get charged 100'000 USD. For such, Google is very dangerous (lot of nightmare stories), you have to avoid as much as possible their public API services.

ProofHouse 9mo ago
Yup. Avoid Google services especially map at all costs

DonHopkins 9mo ago

Google Maps is just Spam spelled backwards.

SequoiaHope 9mo ago
spaM elgooG
- mbirth 9mo ago
  It’s actually Spanish: Spam El Goog

ProofHouse 9mo ago

That map pricing change stole literally months of my life having to rip out google from an app I spend months building it into. F Google

maelito 9mo ago

Protomaps should have been cited.

EdwardDiego 9mo ago

I never knew about MISSILEMAP, and am happy to report that no Russian missiles, not even the Satan II appear to have the range to reach New Zealand. ...ohhhh, that's why Peter Thiel has citizenship here.

wcallahan 9mo ago

I do a lot of maps API calls, and found I get better results (and can save money) by using multiple providers. So I use Apple Maps, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap, and Google Maps… sometimes to check the results with multiple providers, and sometimes to divvy up the free allotment. For anyone using Java/Kotlin/JVM, I made an SDK for Apple Maps: https://github.com/WilliamAGH/apple-maps-java https://github.com/WilliamAGH/apple-maps-java which is one with a generous included tier.