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Actually, Google Maps allow you to cache portions of maps for offline use: https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/2650377?hl=en https://support.google.com/gmm/an

Actually, Google Maps allow you to cache portions of maps for offline use: https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/2650377?hl=en https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/2650377?hl=en There are other navigation apps that do store offline maps; the reason they're not popular outside of outdoor enthusiasts is that they take up a huge amount of space. It seems like a reasonable trade-off to me.

jacquesm 12y ago
Since when is caching a substitute for integration?
- zevyoura 12y ago
  I'm not sure I understand what you mean by integration; are you proposing that the mapping app contain the complete map data, which is then occasionally updated as needed? There's a clear advantage to not storing several GB of data you rarely if ever need on a device with very limited storage space.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    Flash is a commodity, a typical navigation device will store all the maps for all of Europe including the most crazy little roads and cost a relatively small fraction of a cell phone, includes a good chunk of the hardware and comes with an SD slot for upgrades. Cell phones could easily provide navigation capabilities for at least the country of origin of the buyer and several around it if the creators decided this was a desirable thing. All of the US is 1GB. See here: (dutch): http://www.laptopshop.nl/vragen/29528/115735/tomtom-navigator-6-software-benelux-maps-on-minisd.html http://www.laptopshop.nl/vragen/29528/115735/tomtom-navigato... Flash runs a few $ / G. Of course your phone manufacturer will screw you completely on the memory when you buy it (the price difference between a 16G and a 32G phone is ridiculous, but I guess I can't fault them as long as people fall for tricks like that).
    - yellowapple 12y ago
      And this is all especially true if we start seeing memristor arrays replacing flash chips in mobile devices; at that point, the few GB it would take to store a worldwide transportation map would be pocket change.
    - krisgee 12y ago
      >a typical navigation device will store all the maps for all of Europe Yeah but it won't also have several GB of games, audio, apps and photos on it as well. People would cry bloody murder if they found out google was using 7 GB of space to cache the world map by default. If you are a person who needs a world map at their fingertips there are apps for that but the average person just needs google maps to figure out what turn the should take occasionally.
      - jacquesm 12y ago
        If they paid $3 for that 7GB they'd be fine with it. It's not like you have to store that stuff in RAM.
pilsetnieks 12y ago
Nokia somehow manages to do offline maps just fine - you can download maps of the countries/cities you need separately and they take up no more than about a hundred MBs each.

jacquesm 12y ago

Since when is caching a substitute for integration?

zevyoura 12y ago
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by integration; are you proposing that the mapping app contain the complete map data, which is then occasionally updated as needed? There's a clear advantage to not storing several GB of data you rarely if ever need on a device with very limited storage space.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Flash is a commodity, a typical navigation device will store all the maps for all of Europe including the most crazy little roads and cost a relatively small fraction of a cell phone, includes a good chunk of the hardware and comes with an SD slot for upgrades. Cell phones could easily provide navigation capabilities for at least the country of origin of the buyer and several around it if the creators decided this was a desirable thing. All of the US is 1GB. See here: (dutch): http://www.laptopshop.nl/vragen/29528/115735/tomtom-navigator-6-software-benelux-maps-on-minisd.html http://www.laptopshop.nl/vragen/29528/115735/tomtom-navigato... Flash runs a few $ / G. Of course your phone manufacturer will screw you completely on the memory when you buy it (the price difference between a 16G and a 32G phone is ridiculous, but I guess I can't fault them as long as people fall for tricks like that).
  - yellowapple 12y ago
    And this is all especially true if we start seeing memristor arrays replacing flash chips in mobile devices; at that point, the few GB it would take to store a worldwide transportation map would be pocket change.
  - krisgee 12y ago
    >a typical navigation device will store all the maps for all of Europe Yeah but it won't also have several GB of games, audio, apps and photos on it as well. People would cry bloody murder if they found out google was using 7 GB of space to cache the world map by default. If you are a person who needs a world map at their fingertips there are apps for that but the average person just needs google maps to figure out what turn the should take occasionally.
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      If they paid $3 for that 7GB they'd be fine with it. It's not like you have to store that stuff in RAM.

pilsetnieks 12y ago

Nokia somehow manages to do offline maps just fine - you can download maps of the countries/cities you need separately and they take up no more than about a hundred MBs each.