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Google Maps has become an eyesore

fastcompany.com

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Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#651

Post by jacquesm »

xdennis wrote: post #342

My biggest frustration with Google Maps is its insistence on always showing me Marx's grave. I live in North London, and whenever I plan a photography trip Google always shows me that genocidal maniac's grave. Oddly enough if I zoom in more it disappears. The Germans are much better at it. They just made a car park over Hitler's death location.

Marx? Genocidal? Are we even thinking of the same Marx here? Or is there a well known serial killer buried in North London that happens to be named Marx?

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#652

Post by AlbertCory »

blincoln wrote: post #532
dietr1ch wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If google can't make money with maps, why isn't Maps taken out of google into a charity/non-profit backed thing. There's OpenStreetMap, and Wikipedia wouldn't mind having a Map I guess. That way it'd help a bit with the monopoly heat and maintaining it could be slightly cheaper. I don't know the legal stuff, but I'd rather have a company supporting a non-profit than burning money internally, so I hope the incentives…

But is Maps actually a net loss for Google, or are they using Hollywood-style accounting techniques to make it appear unprofitable as an additional disincentive to the lawsuits that AlbertCory mentioned?

> are they using Hollywood-style accounting techniques

there's no need. Whereas individual movies do need a fake P&L, Google doesn't report Maps P&L at all. AFAIK.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#653

Post by [deleted] »

throwaway9621 wrote: post #327
Fnoord wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For sure, but for many people there's only Google Maps, and maybe Apple Maps. On the short term, catering to Google Maps makes sense. They'd add to another project if it were to be popular enough, and the network effect keeps Google Maps popular. Hence they get away with enshittification.

>They'd add to another project if it were to be popular enough, and the network effect keeps Google Maps popular. Hence they get away with enshittification. Ah yes, the chicken and egg logic of network effect excuses all. How about if people, idk, just evangelized more about the things they love to be smug about on HN? People should be shamed off enshittified platforms. Be "that guy" - or be a hypocrite. For Google i…

[deleted]

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#654

Post by sonofhans »

technothrasher wrote: post #479
sonofhans wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it’s not built for you. Cows may not like milking machines either, but the farmer doesn’t care. Google Maps exists to further Google’s surveillance platform and search monopoly. User preference is incidental. It’s just like Internet Explorer on Windows 20 years ago. Microsoft only needed to make a good product long enough to leverage it into their other monopoly products, then they no longer gave a shit. We can…

> Cows may not like milking machines Ok, off topic, but having grown up around cows, they will line up each day waiting for their chance to get on the milking machine. They very much do like them.

Oh, you’re totally right, of course :) It’s also not true that farmers don’t care— practically all of them do. I was reaching for a quick metaphor, even though it’s not an exact fit.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#655

Post by fnordpiglet »

branon wrote: post #582
fnordpiglet wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good to know! Uninstalling when I get home. Windows has really become a big bag of certified malware and adware. I always feel a bit dirty when I play a game on my windows pc, and now I know why.

The irony here is that you will get NVIDIA (and AMD) drivers vendored through Windows Update automatically by default. These work fine for 3D acceleration, and don't install GFE or require an account. You'll just be a few versions behind, not sure what their release cadence is for this. But as far as I know this is a net positive to the Windows PC user and potentially eliminates needing to deal with GFE/Adrenalin as…

Except the telemetry service was moved into the drivers in 2016, and isn’t a part of GFE any more.

:-/

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#656

Post by fnordpiglet »

behringer wrote: post #504
wredue wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GeForce experience tracks every single window you have open, sending the title and window information, along with every single spot that you click on your screen to Nvidia, tied to your now mandatory account. That was a couple years back. Who knows how much more invasive it’s gotten since. Oh. And this data is considered to be “valuable debugging information”, so is not prevented by opting out of analytics.

I use glasswire firewall and I just checked nvidia's activity and it doesn't even amount to a megabyte (uploaded) in the last week. I'm thinking this is tinfoil hat stuff.

I’m a little surprised no one has MitM the telemetry service and reverse engineered what it’s sending.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#657

Post by bowsamic »

LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #590
bowsamic wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse: here in Hamburg, a major German city with very high Google Maps usage, The S-Bahn line S1 is closed through the tunnel right in the centre of the city an entire month, and yet it has not been updated at all. Same thing occurred when the S1 from the airport to HBF was closed last month. These are very high capacity lines and it is tourist season. Anyone trying to use Google Maps is going to be very confuse…

You're expected to use the HVV-App. https://www.hvv.de/en Edditt: links to ios and android at the rigth bottom side of the screen (a.k.a scroll down)

I use the HVV app but no you aren’t, since Google Maps usually does account for closures!

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#658

Post by roeles »

nucleardog wrote: post #473
aembleton wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried Waze? I find that better at detecting jams and routing around them.

I tried it. It started pinging me mid drive to call out the nearby Burger King or something and offer to reroute me there. Last thing I need when I’m trying to navigate unfamiliar urban areas while operating a heavy piece of machinery at high speed is more distractions and more things to process.

I only get ads when standing still.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#659

Post by BLKNSLVR »

lolinder wrote: post #510
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brave + PiHole + uBlock Origin = no video ad, no top banner ad Firefox + PiHole + no extensions = dumbass video, blank top banner ad (all the space is taken up but no content)

This isn't an ad, it's a really bad promotion for first-party content. I still see it with uBO on Firefox. Maybe Brave has extra visual filters that block this specific div?

> promotion for first-party content

The pedant in me says: that's an ad.

It's just one of the rare ones not delivered by a gigantic network, so it's far less likely to be a scam or malware. Still an ad though.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#660

Post by memefrog »

izacus wrote: post #575
memefrog wrote: post #92

Google Maps just isn't a map. I wonder if the people that work on it have ever looked at actual maps before. You have to zoom in almost to the maximum setting to see street names, and even then they often don't show up. Real maps show street names labeled on every street. But Google Maps developers are obviously more interested in it looking 'clean' and in showing little ads all over it than in it actually being usef…

Did you consider that maybe huge majority of users don't actually use Google Maps as a paper map and don't particularly care for using it that way?

I didn't say anything about using it 'as a paper map'. But using it as a map is the point of a map.
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