101–110 of 201 posts
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On a phone, scanning can be much faster and more pleasant than typing.
Typing isn't the only way to search. "Ok Google, show me a map of Oakland, California."
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Well, I assume Google has a big staff of skilled people working on GIS, but I'm curious to know what kind of input they get from people trained in the art of cartographical mapmaking... My hunch is that the tech industry is bad at taking advantage of this kind of traditional trade knowledge, and the essay in question here is an indicator. As for Amazon, the Kindle e-books very often have horrific typesetting that wou…
Something that has become interesting to me recently is the amount of knowledge about maratime weather and sailing that isn't readily accessible in a some kind of neat database, app or website. You actually have to talk to people and wander through museums to find out some of it. It's an example of an industry and body of knowledge that still grows and is passed around outside of the internet. Weather patterns for a…
Lots of this information is collated in Almanacks and pilot guides (eg. Reeds Natuical Almanac and the Shell Channel Pilot for UK sailors, plus the books from the Cruising Association and Royal Cruising Club). There's not a lot of incentive for an online version, as the information needs to be accesible offline for reference and in case plans change. However, there is a lot of information in apps: there's an iPad version of Reeds Natuical Almanac [1], Imray has a worldwide Tides planner app [2], and there are apps with charts from both the UKHO and Imray [3].
[1]: http://www.reedsnauticalalmanac.co.uk/
[2]: http://imray.com/tides-planner-app/
[3]: http://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/testing-ip...
Look at Here maps. It is a much better designed map, from a cartography perspective.
ps: I recently discovered the 'my timelime' feature. Surprising to say the least.
I've only ever been using Google Maps for the sattelite imagery, street view, and routin. For those things, Google Maps is still great. OpenStreetMap is what I use for orienting, find cycling paths, trails etc. So I'm not too bothered by this change. What I don't understand is why hasn't anybody taken the Google Maps routing and use it in OSM apps? Might not be legal, but similar non-commercial projects it should be…
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Apple Maps has actually significantly improved since its launch, and I wish people would give it its due. I, for one, often prefer Apple Maps to Google Maps nowadays.
My main problem with Apple Maps has always been that it just shows too little information on the screen, exactly what the author now criticizes about Google Maps. That doesn't seem to have changes with the current Apple Maps.
"I designed and led the development of Apple’s cartography, and I founded, recruited, and managed Apple’s multinational Cartography team."
You don't need a hulking great map with loads of detail at a high level to get from point A to point B, you now just use your smartphone for that.
I assume Google spotted a trend of people searching place names as opposed to picking points between two separate locations.
So how does that change the function of the map?
Well, we no longer need to have the zoomed out overload of detail, if we need more information about a place we are visiting, we type in the city name, or address, then zoom in close to see the detail we need.
The article kind of skimps over the point that we can interact with those maps now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartographic_generalization#Th...