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Should this be a map or 500 maps?
61–70 of 115 posts
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#62hey this is elan, author of this piece. thanks for sharing and for the discussion
for what it’s worth i do agree with the one or two comments here that say that the line “modularity is inversely correlated with expressiveness” is a bit reductive. i did have a long section of caveats but removed them because i felt like they confused the matter more. ironically i’m butting up against the expressive limits of the english language, its own modular technology :p
html of course is another shared protocol that is so flexible that it does allow for immense expressiveness even while it makes certain core decisions that limit (arguably helpfully) certain forms of expression
squarespace would be the ur example to me of a frankenstein product whose exceptional modularity makes expressiveness a battle with the machine
which is all to say, i welcome more thoughts on this dynamic!
for those asking to see all 500 maps, i wish i could too! unfortunately as far as i can tell they haven’t been digitized. if you find them please (please please) let me know. happy to upload the higher res versions of the maps i do have later.
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
OsmAnd is awesome, I use it especially when walking in new cities. For cycling though, I’m a happy user of cycle.travel[1]. [1] https://cycle.travel/map
>walking in new cities I do enjoy digital life, but you know what else rocks, apropos walking in new cities[0]? Custom maps, printed. Its fun to look at the little piles of maps I've made for myself over the years, from Frome to Rome, Berlin to Pristine .. In fact, I think I prefer printed maps over digital, for personal adventure/navigation needs. ([0] Disclaimer: Got navionics and predict wind running on multiple t…
What do you mean by custom maps? What do you include/exclude from them, and how do you make them?
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#64We had a lively discussion about Google Maps in my cycling group. It's very annoying to have a map that is only designed to show the fastest route, and that forcefully reroutes you to it. It doesn't let you avoid a road or favour another. It does not show named bike routes and hiking trails. It doesn't even let you keep the screen on without having directions. For most people, the entire experience of using a map is…
> It doesn't let you avoid a road or favour another This might be a computational cost thing. Modern routing algorithms preprocess the graph to find the optimal route orders of magnitude faster than you normally would without preprocessing. If you let each person customize the graph then such queries would be much more costly. Then again, I'm sure there are lots of other complications already and that most users woul…
> most users wouldn't want alternate routes
I wouldn't be so sure about that. I have seen many different users intentionally deviate from the suggested route because they know more than Google about what is best for them (or at least they think they do).
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#65We had a lively discussion about Google Maps in my cycling group. It's very annoying to have a map that is only designed to show the fastest route, and that forcefully reroutes you to it. It doesn't let you avoid a road or favour another. It does not show named bike routes and hiking trails. It doesn't even let you keep the screen on without having directions. For most people, the entire experience of using a map is…
I’m still looking for a map which let me optimize for “stopping as little as possible” which in practice means avoiding traffic jams and traffic lights. I notice this makes me drive more relax, and especially with a baby it’s way easier to keep the baby asleep
Doesn't Google Maps somewhat have this - it often suggests multiple routes, some of which have a green leaf.
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#66Surveys come to mind as another scenario where standardization is practical but hides a lot of individuality.
For any survey question, asking the participant “why did you choose that answer?” could reveal interesting information. Maybe they interpreted the question in a surprising way?
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
The biggest thing for me with maps is the refusal to allow multiple tabs on phone. If you're the passenger on a road trip and doing the navigation you're unable to use maps to make plans for tonight or tomorrow. Okay the driver could be nav, but now they also need to be the music, and everytime you the passenger wants to use it to look for petrol on route or change music you have to ask their code or hold it up to th…
You can use multiple map apps at the same time on one phone. Default + website (on multiple tap) are always available, but on long road trips I use Waze. There’s also a bunch of really nice apps for things like subway maps, trails, etc.
While you are correct, I think they were saying it would be nice to turn on Google Maps directions and then use the same app on the same phone to do research without disrupting the current navigation.
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
The biggest thing for me with maps is the refusal to allow multiple tabs on phone. If you're the passenger on a road trip and doing the navigation you're unable to use maps to make plans for tonight or tomorrow. Okay the driver could be nav, but now they also need to be the music, and everytime you the passenger wants to use it to look for petrol on route or change music you have to ask their code or hold it up to th…
Install Maps Go for another map, and set up a Work Profile for 2 more maps. Or use Maps in abBrowser. Interestingly, when you have public transit navigation running, Maps is able to run "current trip" in background while you plan an alternate/additional trip.
Yes. Then buy another phone for up to 4 extra maps.
At this point paper maps start looking more useful than digital ones.
Google Maps is not a map. It's a half-decent nav system slash ad delivery vector, that pretends to be a map, but sucks at it.
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#69We had a lively discussion about Google Maps in my cycling group. It's very annoying to have a map that is only designed to show the fastest route, and that forcefully reroutes you to it. It doesn't let you avoid a road or favour another. It does not show named bike routes and hiking trails. It doesn't even let you keep the screen on without having directions. For most people, the entire experience of using a map is…
This is why I need to have 10 different map apps on my phone. I hate it. Google maps is good enough for find my way in a city, or getting to a destination by car. And when I get there, I whip out another app to pay the parking. If I forget where I parked, my car has an app with a map. To plan a longer trip with an electric car, ABRP is better. And when I'm just looking for a charge pole where my card will work, Plugs…
I feel like if you had all the map apps in one, you'd end up with a Salesforce of maps.
I kind of like having separate apps for different activities. For sure, it's nice that they integrate eg. gas station search into Waze -- it's a car-related thing, and a likely option in the workflow of navigating a trip. I'll use a totally different app for route finding along mountain trails - here I'll be concerned about offline availability, topography data, terrain types, shelters, precise location and orientation, etc.
To OP's point, it would be nice to have a bike-centric app that responds to concerns cyclists have and others pay little attention to - eg, road surface quality, lane widths, grading, wind exposure, general safety rating etc. Google Maps does the token thing of indicating the total climb and descent for a planned route, but it doesn't give an option to optimize for that (eg, longer route with fewer climbs).
Re: Should this be a map or 500 maps?
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It doesn't let you avoid a road or favour another This might be a computational cost thing. Modern routing algorithms preprocess the graph to find the optimal route orders of magnitude faster than you normally would without preprocessing. If you let each person customize the graph then such queries would be much more costly. Then again, I'm sure there are lots of other complications already and that most users woul…
> most users wouldn't want alternate routes I wouldn't be so sure about that. I have seen many different users intentionally deviate from the suggested route because they know more than Google about what is best for them (or at least they think they do).
I sometimes I think Waze is sending me on an exploratory missions, giving me a sub-optimal route just to learn the current conditions along it.