A while ago I made something a bit like this, but it is an animation of all the years between 2007 and now.
It only works in my town in the UK, so don't try scrolling the map too much.
OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
111–120 of 201 posts
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#112OSM needs some form of gamification adding to it. Google Maps app is great, lets you gain points by adding information & photos & reviews etc. They even send you a free bespoke pair of socks or a badge if you're active enough. So fun to add photos and then see how many views they get (I posted one of a chippy in Scotland (for Americans that's Fish & Chip 'Thick French Fries' shop) which got over 1.4 million views - m…
This is the main thing I hate about google maps. I refuse to do free work for google in return for 'fun'.
Personally I just use it for me. Even if they made it so that nothing is shared, and it bookmarks my edits I'd be happy. I don't want to keep a separate override list.
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#113This is blowing my mind, I had no idea it was as good as it was. I always remembering it being slow, empty, and just not really usable. This is incredible work and I'm sorry that I held such a negative opinion of it for so long!
I held the same negative opinion, until about 2018. Then I thought "enough is enough" and started contributing in my area. This in the hope and expectation that other area's will have volunteers working who started out with the same emotion in a somewhat catalysing effect (is that a word?). Now I am quite proud of maintaining shops and bars in my city, at least I think I am the person who updates those the most :)
Is this a manual process, generally?
I was wondering if someone(s) consume data feeds from local govts. Stuff like permitting, licensing, change-of-address.
I ask because it seems that I'll idly spot a business, while driving around, that I'm sure didn't turn up in a search. (I mostly use Apple Maps.)
Then I thought "surely adding new listings could be automated".
My next thought was "well, just because it's in the database doesn't mean Apple, Google, Yelp will show it".
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#114Honestly, OSM is a damn triumph.
Emphatic agreement. I was doing CAD & GIS in the 80s. We certainly foresaw this stuff. Even so, I'm just gobsmacked by the number and quality of all the map & GIS systems.
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#115Quoted post unavailable.
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Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the main thing I hate about google maps. I refuse to do free work for google in return for 'fun'.
This is definitely one of the trickiest ethical questions for me -- and it applies not only to Maps updates, but also writing Amazon reviews, and so forth. On the one hand it's free work benefiting the corporation... but on the other hand it's genuinely helping sometimes thousands of other people. I benefit massively from reading Amazon reviews, and it feels good to give back. But it is also a contribution that furth…
I appreciate your viewpoint, and in some ways I agree.
However I see it mostly from a competitors point of view.
If you were to start up a new directory/mapping service, you would need to set up a team of people paid to gather this information for you.
For example if you wanted to put in your new directory whether company A has a car park at their premesis or has disabled access etc, you would need to pay somebody to either go there and perform a survey or call them up and ask them. Googles monopoly enables them to just ask the question to everybody that has ever been there and get the data returned back into the system automatically and free.
I see this as anticompetitive and so I choose not to participate.
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is the main thing I hate about google maps. I refuse to do free work for google in return for 'fun'.
Try thinking of it as work done to help other real people. I found the "Emergency" door of a local hospital hard to find IRL, so I added a photo of it from the driveway POV. Another sort of real person you can help are the web-clueless owners of local small businesses.
Instead of supplying a mega corp with some free information to increase their monopoly on directions, maybe you could have just mentioned to the hospital staff that they could do with a new sign pointing to the door?
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#118Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#119It’s interesting to look at the local edits on osm. In my area it’s mostly from Amazon and Lyft, based on proprietary imagery.
There's a few ways for volunteers to trace proprietary imagery and data into OSM with the permission of the owners of the images.
I'm guessing you're talking about private, proprietary imagery?
Re: OpenStreepMap 2012 vs. 2022
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is definitely one of the trickiest ethical questions for me -- and it applies not only to Maps updates, but also writing Amazon reviews, and so forth. On the one hand it's free work benefiting the corporation... but on the other hand it's genuinely helping sometimes thousands of other people. I benefit massively from reading Amazon reviews, and it feels good to give back. But it is also a contribution that furth…
I appreciate your viewpoint, and in some ways I agree. However I see it mostly from a competitors point of view. If you were to start up a new directory/mapping service, you would need to set up a team of people paid to gather this information for you. For example if you wanted to put in your new directory whether company A has a car park at their premesis or has disabled access etc, you would need to pay somebody to…
Yeah, this makes me think further and it feels like one solution could be legislation that declares companies never own user-supplied content -- that when users submit data like Amazon reviews or Craigslist posts they become public domain. Competitors are free to scrape them however they can.
It's harder for map corrections though, as the user-presented data mixes commercial and user-supplied data. Maybe legislation should require regular data dumps of all user-supplied content much like Wikipedia makes available in XML form? Then no scraping is even required.