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How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

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Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#71

Post by maxerickson »

plopz wrote: post #67
lukeqsee wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you know of any tile service offering colored, shaded elevation reliefs? Does that imply variation in coloration based on elevation? (Just making sure I understand your question.) We have limited support for basic hillshading and are actively looking into contour lines. Coloration for various elevations is something we do not currently offer (nor am I aware of any other providers), but it is something we would b…

Yes, color for elevation and shading for slope. Another use case that I've been searching for is a tile set not of images, but of just elevation data. So that I could implement something similar to google earth's lat/lng/elevation info wherever your mouse cursor is.

Have you evaluated SRTM (or some patched up derivative) for your latter use case?

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#72

Post by lemonlyman516 »

dabernathy89 wrote: post #39

Since Google Maps jacked up their prices a few days ago, I've been exploring alternatives, including Mapbox. Unfortunately Mapbox is also very steep for a solo developer developer who wants to build a side project - at least if it's considered 'commercial'. $500 / month for only 250 users, and no way to plan beyond that without inquiring with them about an "enterprise" plan. Also, if anyone from Mapbox is reading thi…

Ali from Mapbox here - love to help clear up the confusion & answer any questions. If you want you can shoot me an email ali@mapbox.com

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#74

Post by lukeqsee »

nsx147 wrote: post #73

A bit tangential, but I have been unable to find a price-friendly static maps provider for embedding in PDF and print. Anyone have suggestions?

We would be happy to support this type of application! Please email me at luke@stadiamaps.com if you'd like more information pertaining to your use-case.

https://stadiamaps.com

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#75

Post by plopz »

Const-me wrote: post #70
plopz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, color for elevation and shading for slope. Another use case that I've been searching for is a tile set not of images, but of just elevation data. So that I could implement something similar to google earth's lat/lng/elevation info wherever your mouse cursor is.

You don't need a web service for that. The data is free, search for "SRTM" and download the continents you need. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Radar_Topography_Missi...

Sure but I have no expertise on how to take those files and turn them into a tiles that correspond with the same basemap image tiles. Also ideally the service would incorporate more than just SRTM, including for example the USGS high res DEM where available.

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#76

Post by mtmail »

jstandard wrote: post #52
mtmail wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Mapbox map is tracking its users. Based on that location data they can derive unmapped roads, turning restrictions, traffic jams (and time-of-day congestion), construction. And feeding other machine learning system to improve the data set. In a recent press release they talk about deployed sensors, no longer users. Google Maps knows when rush hour at your local gym is, Mapbox wants the same. It's a big selling po…

Any ideas about how they're solving the need to constantly update meta data like speed limits or POI names? This is the part of the OSM data set I found particularly weak when comparing vs. Google Maps.

For those I assume licensing data from commercial providers. For Germany geocoding for example Mapbox uses government data, not OpenStreetMap (found out reading a github issue when another user asked why an OSM change wasn't reflected).

https://www.mapillary.com/imagery is using image recognition for traffic signs and lists Mapbox as a user.

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#78

Post by plopz »

maxerickson wrote: post #71
plopz wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, color for elevation and shading for slope. Another use case that I've been searching for is a tile set not of images, but of just elevation data. So that I could implement something similar to google earth's lat/lng/elevation info wherever your mouse cursor is.

Have you evaluated SRTM (or some patched up derivative) for your latter use case?

Yeah, its unfortunately missing a lot of alaska. But the main problem is I have no idea how to reproject it into web-mercator and generate usable tiles from it.

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#79

Post by jstandard »

tboyd47 wrote: post #68

More crucially, they are winning over executives of medium-to-large internet businesses with superior sales and marketing. Individual engineers at these places do not have the power to make decisions about which map software to use, which are often six- or seven-figure contracts. Mapbox offers a service that is comparable to Google Maps in terms of price, quality and flexibility. From a technical standpoint, there ar…

What are your main use cases?

Re: How Mapbox Is Winning Over Developers to Challenge Google's Mapping Dominance

#80

Post by jsgo »

plopz wrote: post #75
Const-me wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need a web service for that. The data is free, search for "SRTM" and download the continents you need. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Radar_Topography_Missi...

Sure but I have no expertise on how to take those files and turn them into a tiles that correspond with the same basemap image tiles. Also ideally the service would incorporate more than just SRTM, including for example the USGS high res DEM where available.

Same boat, but does this help at all? https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SRTM
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