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OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

blog.osmfoundation.org

111–120 of 160 posts

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#111
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think ElliotH knows that. His point is that OSM is probably going to be more effective publicly welcoming and reminding than throwing a hissyfit, even though they'd be justified in doing so.

Agreed. Apple adopting OSM could be huge for them. And think about it, everyone who they'd want to know that it is OSM, now knows :-P

Who cares what Apple wants? _OSM_ wants everyone to know that Apple is using their data.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#112
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it looks like OSM. There are small roads that I've mapped that are only on OSM, and are present on these maps. The data from OSM is from april 2010 (based on "The road added to OSM on $DATE1 is on these appple tiles, but the the road added on $DATE2 isn't") And yes, it looks like they've been using it for a while, no-one noticed till now.

> And yes, it looks like they've been using it for a while, no-one noticed till now. What do you mean by that? This is all from software released today, right?

No, the same tile sets are used in iPhoto for OS X (part of the iLife suite) and some people claim they're used in Aperture (another photo editor but I've not used it).

Where they have used it, they used it as hint as to where a photo was taken. The more detailed info panes still use google's maps.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#113
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the thing you might be witnessing here is what earthlings call "sarcasm," or maybe "a thinly veiled threat". I'm not entirely sure which one.

The whole article is sarcasm laid on with a trowel by people who would probably be willing to chase all the media exposure and legal avenues available to them if Apple doesn't play nice from here on in. I would love to be a fly-on-the wall at the Apple meeting where they are forced to discuss this.

It doesn't matter that Apple are a big company: they're still subject to the same rules as anyone else. This is by far the best way to have this issue resolved. Talking to people usually works a lot better than spamming them with legal documents.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#114
post #45
post #43

I wonder if this is a temporary quick and dirty solution from Apple, pending a full-scale switch to their own maps in iOS 6.0.

"Their own maps"? These are their maps. They are rendering them, they are hosting them. If you mean "their own map data", then that would be silly (& expensive) for Apple to either (a) drive a car around everywhere like Google Street View or (b) licence some third party mapping company. OSM is a good solution for Apple here.

I'm pretty sure they can afford to buy their own map data. What would be nice, though, is if they put the cash into fixing up OSM. Somewhat like what they did with KHTML.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#115
I can see a big migration away from Google Maps with Google's new pricing. Google's pricing can potentially get prohibitively expensive quickly. 25000 map views per day and $4/1000 map views that exceed the free 25000 map views. I am starting a new project that is focused around mapping. There is no way Google Maps will work for me with their pricing model. Open Street Maps is great.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#116
We know that Apple is working on using their own map technology based on some of their acquisitions. Is it possible that OSM is just a stop-gap until their own maps are ready to go? Perhaps they didn't want to enter into another licensing agreement with Google if they're going to be ready to switch to their own solution later this year with iOS 6?

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#117
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Apple adopting OSM could be huge for them. And think about it, everyone who they'd want to know that it is OSM, now knows :-P

Who cares what Apple wants? _OSM_ wants everyone to know that Apple is using their data.

Exactly. OSM wants more people using OSM. Getting the pitchforks out now would be contrary to that goal.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#118
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it looks like OSM. There are small roads that I've mapped that are only on OSM, and are present on these maps. The data from OSM is from april 2010 (based on "The road added to OSM on $DATE1 is on these appple tiles, but the the road added on $DATE2 isn't") And yes, it looks like they've been using it for a while, no-one noticed till now.

> And yes, it looks like they've been using it for a while, no-one noticed till now. What do you mean by that? This is all from software released today, right?

It has come to prominence due to software released in the last few days, yes. But it was also used in other software.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#119

We know that Apple is working on using their own map technology based on some of their acquisitions. Is it possible that OSM is just a stop-gap until their own maps are ready to go? Perhaps they didn't want to enter into another licensing agreement with Google if they're going to be ready to switch to their own solution later this year with iOS 6?

Well these are already their maps. They have styled them, hosting them etc. They are just using the raw underlying OSM data. You have to get data from somewhere, and OSM is probably one of the best sources of data.

Re: OpenStreetMap: Welcome Apple

#120
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then congratulations Apple, for making a not so great map even worse. I can't really judge map quality in the US, but in Germany it sucks. That's very disappointing to hear. I understood that it was ever better than Google Maps in some parts of Europe.

In my short time playing with openstreetmap I learned that openstreetmap is more of a spec/aggregate/foundation entity that seems to be grouping "open street mapping" efforts under their banner. It's more of a spec than a single data source. I learned this when I had to go elsewhere (government sites and colleges) to find "open" street mapping data. It's was a little confusing to say the least and I still may be misu…

Really? Isn't there at least a "main" source of map data that comes from openstreetmap.org? Mapquest is also experimenting with them (gotta stay relevant somehow right?), it seems to contain contributions I've made. (open.mapquest.com)
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