8 ms·

MapQuest still exists

40 points by altern8 11y ago

miguelrochefort 11y ago
I've been using their API just last week. As far as I know, this is the only free service for driving distances that can be used with maps other than Google's.
- mayneack 11y ago
  open street map?
  - sehugg 11y ago
    Yeah, mentioning MapQuest without regards to their OSM efforts seems like a bit of an omission. Intentional or no? http://open.mapquest.co.uk/ http://open.mapquest.co.uk/
  - porjo 11y ago
    Openstreetmap doesn't provide driving distances or routing itself. Project OSRM uses Openstreetmap data to provide this service: http://project-osrm.org/ http://project-osrm.org/
    - maxerickson 11y ago
      There are many projects[1] and services[2] using OSM data for route planning. As your sibling comment mentions, Mapquest Open is among them. [1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing#Developers http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing#Developers [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing/online_routers#Route_services_with_public_instances http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing/online_routers#Ro...
      - porjo 11y ago
        I don't disagree. mayneack indicated that he/she thought OSM provided an API for driving distances (they don't).
- karussell 11y ago
  The services from GraphHopper are free too and the core router is even open source too. (It is based on OpenStreetMap)
shalmanese 11y ago
Reviving MapQuest seems about as likely to me as AOL reviving it's dialup business. The simple fact is that the quality bar has risen to the point where maps have become a pay to play space with serious table stakes. You can't just buy a bundle of 3rd party data, slap a nice UI on it and call it a day anymore. Maybe MapQuest could do something unique with merging it's brand name with OSM but even that seems like a pretty faint possibility. I have no doubt they could manage to remain profitable for some ungodly amount of time by relying on pure inertia from their legacy customers. But trying to find meaningful ways to grow the brand seems like throwing good money after bad.
- a3n 11y ago
  If google keeps loading their interface down with widgets and geegaws that I can't get rid of, and keeps screwing up their route line that now sometimes can and sometimes can't be sensibly dragged around, then at some point one of my frustration visits to mapquest will see me not returning.
  - Gibbon1 11y ago
    You can try bing maps. I'm basically done with google maps for good. My impression is it's no long a map service but show me the nearest Chili's Grill & Bar on my smart phone service.
    - a3n 11y ago
      Thanks, I think you just gave me my new map. The map itself is fairly clean. It had a little trouble figuring out that Northsouth and Eastwest, mytown, mystate was an intersection on a map site (WTF?) and not a search for businesses with Northsouth in the name, but when I gave it blvd to Northsouth and figured it out. The routing line on directions was nicely moveable. And, duckduckgo has a bang code for it, !bm. I'm there.
- qbrass 11y ago
  After spending 10 minutes trying to find where Google moved their menu so I could print directions, (I completely missed the hamburger menu blended into the text box) I gave up used MapQuest instead. Instead of focusing on the quality of their map data, MapQuest can just compete by not ruining their UX.
megawac 11y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that they can maybe also replace TomTom with location tracking services from Verizon - probably yielding a ridiculously comprehensive tracking for North America (subject to ToC, I'm not a lawyer).
ghshephard 11y ago
I find this hard to believe: "Though MapQuest still has the second-highest share of the domestic market in online mapping, about 25 percent"
- dopamean 11y ago
  I worked at two companies in the last 3 years that both used MapQuest a lot. Both companies had fleets of drivers (one had about 200 trucks and the other had about 500). The first was pretty low tech and just distributed MapQuest printouts to drivers that had to go somewhere. The other was quite a bit more technically sound and had a pretty cool dispatching and routing system. All the maps were rendered using MapQuest. I was pretty surprised but in both cases it seems that these companies started doing things that way before Google Maps took off and they just stuck with what worked for them. I know its anecdotal but I think it could point to something. The first company was in central Florida and the second was in NYC. They were also in completely different industries.
  - ghshephard 11y ago
    Fair enough - perhaps the "Legacy" domestic market is bigger than I would imagine/believe. But, I can say this - MapQuest doesn't have much of an international presence. I just typed, "10 Anson Road, Singapore" (and then "10 Anson Road, Singapore, Singapore" just for safe measure) - It showed me a map of Norwalk, CT. So, even if I wanted to try it - pretty much out of luck.
    - dopamean 11y ago
      That makes me wonder if the stat about 25% was referring to a specific market. Like the US or something.
      - Doctor_Fegg 11y ago
        Yes, the US - "domestic"
petethered 11y ago
Anyone know what mesh lounge chair that is in the picture?
- petethered 11y ago
  Self reply since answer found on Reddit: A Kimble Office Fit
gs7 11y ago
Slightly off topic but if you're annoyed with the new Google Maps you can still use the classic version at https://maps.google.com/lochp https://maps.google.com/lochp.
mintplant 11y ago
Google is the "always online" company. So MapQuest should be the anti-Google: make a good, free offline maps app. All of the ones I've tried (on Android, at least) either had too little detail or a cumbersome user interface. But all of them were promoted to me directly by word-of-mouth. Make a great one, and people will spread it around. Become the fanatic's map app. The MapQuest brand could have the perfect retro-niche appeal for this.
- nine_k 11y ago
  Have you tried OsmAnd? Rather nice, free / open data, offline.
  - eli 11y ago
    OsmAnd is pretty good, but it's freemium. You only get 10 dowbloads.
    - karussell 11y ago
      It is not freemium! It is open source and uses open data! BTW: The deployment in google play is freemium but there are other storages without that restriction
      - eli 11y ago
        It's open source and open data, but at least on Android it ain't free. (And I'm OK with that) I guess I could build it myself from source and side load it? I'd rather just pay them the $6. It's a nice app.
- jedmeyers 11y ago
  Have you tried HERE maps?
  - mladen5 11y ago
    HERE maps are very nice, they are Nokia/Microsoft and app is very polished on Android. Only thing is Google Maps have slightly better routing options.
mkoryak 11y ago
opened the website. what the fuck am I doing in florida (I'm in Boston)? x
sgnelson 11y ago
I currently work for a bureaucracy that requires that all trips to be mapped ONLY on MapQuest, in order to turn it in to be compensated for the travel. I haven't figured out why. (It's a state bureaucracy, logic isn't their strong suit. They still pay for long distance phone calls, and have to document all long distance phone calls.)

40 points by altern8 11y ago

I've been using their API just last week. As far as I know, this is the only free service for driving distances that can be used with maps other than Google's.

mayneack 11y ago
open street map?
- sehugg 11y ago
  Yeah, mentioning MapQuest without regards to their OSM efforts seems like a bit of an omission. Intentional or no? http://open.mapquest.co.uk/ http://open.mapquest.co.uk/
- porjo 11y ago
  Openstreetmap doesn't provide driving distances or routing itself. Project OSRM uses Openstreetmap data to provide this service: http://project-osrm.org/ http://project-osrm.org/
  - maxerickson 11y ago
    There are many projects[1] and services[2] using OSM data for route planning. As your sibling comment mentions, Mapquest Open is among them. [1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing#Developers http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing#Developers [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing/online_routers#Route_services_with_public_instances http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Routing/online_routers#Ro...
    - porjo 11y ago
      I don't disagree. mayneack indicated that he/she thought OSM provided an API for driving distances (they don't).
karussell 11y ago
The services from GraphHopper are free too and the core router is even open source too. (It is based on OpenStreetMap)

shalmanese 11y ago

Reviving MapQuest seems about as likely to me as AOL reviving it's dialup business. The simple fact is that the quality bar has risen to the point where maps have become a pay to play space with serious table stakes. You can't just buy a bundle of 3rd party data, slap a nice UI on it and call it a day anymore. Maybe MapQuest could do something unique with merging it's brand name with OSM but even that seems like a pretty faint possibility. I have no doubt they could manage to remain profitable for some ungodly amount of time by relying on pure inertia from their legacy customers. But trying to find meaningful ways to grow the brand seems like throwing good money after bad.

a3n 11y ago
If google keeps loading their interface down with widgets and geegaws that I can't get rid of, and keeps screwing up their route line that now sometimes can and sometimes can't be sensibly dragged around, then at some point one of my frustration visits to mapquest will see me not returning.
- Gibbon1 11y ago
  You can try bing maps. I'm basically done with google maps for good. My impression is it's no long a map service but show me the nearest Chili's Grill & Bar on my smart phone service.
  - a3n 11y ago
    Thanks, I think you just gave me my new map. The map itself is fairly clean. It had a little trouble figuring out that Northsouth and Eastwest, mytown, mystate was an intersection on a map site (WTF?) and not a search for businesses with Northsouth in the name, but when I gave it blvd to Northsouth and figured it out. The routing line on directions was nicely moveable. And, duckduckgo has a bang code for it, !bm. I'm there.
qbrass 11y ago
After spending 10 minutes trying to find where Google moved their menu so I could print directions, (I completely missed the hamburger menu blended into the text box) I gave up used MapQuest instead. Instead of focusing on the quality of their map data, MapQuest can just compete by not ruining their UX.

megawac 11y ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that they can maybe also replace TomTom with location tracking services from Verizon - probably yielding a ridiculously comprehensive tracking for North America (subject to ToC, I'm not a lawyer).

ghshephard 11y ago

I find this hard to believe: "Though MapQuest still has the second-highest share of the domestic market in online mapping, about 25 percent"

dopamean 11y ago
I worked at two companies in the last 3 years that both used MapQuest a lot. Both companies had fleets of drivers (one had about 200 trucks and the other had about 500). The first was pretty low tech and just distributed MapQuest printouts to drivers that had to go somewhere. The other was quite a bit more technically sound and had a pretty cool dispatching and routing system. All the maps were rendered using MapQuest. I was pretty surprised but in both cases it seems that these companies started doing things that way before Google Maps took off and they just stuck with what worked for them. I know its anecdotal but I think it could point to something. The first company was in central Florida and the second was in NYC. They were also in completely different industries.
- ghshephard 11y ago
  Fair enough - perhaps the "Legacy" domestic market is bigger than I would imagine/believe. But, I can say this - MapQuest doesn't have much of an international presence. I just typed, "10 Anson Road, Singapore" (and then "10 Anson Road, Singapore, Singapore" just for safe measure) - It showed me a map of Norwalk, CT. So, even if I wanted to try it - pretty much out of luck.
  - dopamean 11y ago
    That makes me wonder if the stat about 25% was referring to a specific market. Like the US or something.
    - Doctor_Fegg 11y ago
      Yes, the US - "domestic"

petethered 11y ago

Anyone know what mesh lounge chair that is in the picture?

petethered 11y ago
Self reply since answer found on Reddit: A Kimble Office Fit

gs7 11y ago

Slightly off topic but if you're annoyed with the new Google Maps you can still use the classic version at https://maps.google.com/lochp https://maps.google.com/lochp.

mintplant 11y ago

Google is the "always online" company. So MapQuest should be the anti-Google: make a good, free offline maps app. All of the ones I've tried (on Android, at least) either had too little detail or a cumbersome user interface. But all of them were promoted to me directly by word-of-mouth. Make a great one, and people will spread it around. Become the fanatic's map app. The MapQuest brand could have the perfect retro-niche appeal for this.

nine_k 11y ago
Have you tried OsmAnd? Rather nice, free / open data, offline.
- eli 11y ago
  OsmAnd is pretty good, but it's freemium. You only get 10 dowbloads.
  - karussell 11y ago
    It is not freemium! It is open source and uses open data! BTW: The deployment in google play is freemium but there are other storages without that restriction
    - eli 11y ago
      It's open source and open data, but at least on Android it ain't free. (And I'm OK with that) I guess I could build it myself from source and side load it? I'd rather just pay them the $6. It's a nice app.
jedmeyers 11y ago
Have you tried HERE maps?
- mladen5 11y ago
  HERE maps are very nice, they are Nokia/Microsoft and app is very polished on Android. Only thing is Google Maps have slightly better routing options.

mkoryak 11y ago

opened the website. what the fuck am I doing in florida (I'm in Boston)? x

sgnelson 11y ago

I currently work for a bureaucracy that requires that all trips to be mapped ONLY on MapQuest, in order to turn it in to be compensated for the travel. I haven't figured out why. (It's a state bureaucracy, logic isn't their strong suit. They still pay for long distance phone calls, and have to document all long distance phone calls.)