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TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

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Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#161

Post by frankfrankfrank »

rapind wrote: post #138
gorbachev wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's definitely why I stopped using TomTom. Like gambiting, I really liked their product. They were compact, fast and the UX was great. But Google Maps is free.

> But Google Maps is free. We need a new alternative word for "free" when it comes to advertising companies. Something short to say "the cost is too abstract and indirect to understand fully or describe, but does impact society at large". Maybe "free-ish"?

That is all already assumed by the word free, if one understands it, which most do not.

Nothing is truly free as people commonly conceptualizer it in their mind. Just alone receiving something at all comes with strings, even if they are not apparent. There is a term that describes this issue rather well in German, “vogelfrei”. It refers to being as free as a bird, which is assumed to be a great thing, but it also means you are free to be hunted and predated.

Free is also the theme of a deal with the devil. I will self-censor here a bit about what is the devil, because the devil’s censorship is more consequential than if I do it to myself for the time being.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#162

Post by astrange »

gambiting wrote: post #88
astrange wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple Maps has the feature you just described, and their maps either are TomTom or are better than TomTom.

I don't know, here in UK they just seem to be barren, with major roads still missing, they don't know about "no right/left turn" signs in places, they don't know about one-way streets......it's not a good system. I don't know how it can be using TomTom's data if TomTom doesn't have any of the same issues.

That one’s the “new map data” so it’s all original or government sources.

Maybe they got tired of mapping the millionth quaint village named something like Branstonpickle-upon-Trousers.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#163

Post by Bubble_Pop_22 »

stevage wrote: post #147
Dinux wrote: post #142

I don't understand the 'everything was better when it wasn't google' mentality that is so often found in these threads. My dad used to work at TomTom right here in the Netherlands. They used to be a fun and innovative company to work for. When it became apparent they entered a multibillion dollar business it was all about the money. As someone who used TomTom before other options became available I can honestly say t…

Google Maps works for certain, pretty common, use cases. That doesn't mean it works for everyone or for every business. Monopolies are bad, near monopolies slightly less bad. And especially when it comes to a platform that significantly influences how millions of people perceive the world around them. (Source: making web maps is my career. I don't touch Google Maps professionally but use it a lot personally.)

> Monopolies are bad, near monopolies slightly less bad

Natural monopolies (such as the one acquired by Google) are not bad as long as government retains the monopoly of B2 bombers.

It's not really a monopoly when it can be ended at a moment's notice

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#164

Post by bloak »

Dinux wrote: post #142

I don't understand the 'everything was better when it wasn't google' mentality that is so often found in these threads. My dad used to work at TomTom right here in the Netherlands. They used to be a fun and innovative company to work for. When it became apparent they entered a multibillion dollar business it was all about the money. As someone who used TomTom before other options became available I can honestly say t…

In my experience, here in the UK, openstreetmap.org is more accurate and more up-to-date than Google Maps, though I still use Google Maps as a way to access Google Earth or Google Street View, which tend to at least be accurate. (I wonder if they've thought about using an AI to guess what the countryside and streets might look like. Could be cheaper than using real photos? :-)

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#165

Post by izacus »

shukantpal wrote: post #130
izacus wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also important how they're doing this. GMaps in my car constantly fails to show anything useful (or even start navigation) because there's no signal in my underground garage. Such a simple thing and yet TomTom can do it and Google can't.

You can download maps offline in Google Maps

Despite having my area downloaded in Google Maps, the navigation and recommended routes won't load in my garage. It usually fails horribly (mostly because, like many poorly programmed mobile apps, it doesn't handle scenarios with poor connectivity well).

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#166

Post by diydsp »

gambiting wrote: post #125
chrisseaton wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My car's built-in navigation can use dead reckoning based on steering angle and wheel speed, so is still better than TomTom in this respect. I really think this person who is clinging to their old TomTom is a bit oblivious to what all the alternatives now do and how they do it better.

I don't know if I'm oblivious - on long drives I usually have the TomTom setup and Waze on the android auto screen - TomTom knows about traffic and issues on the road that are just not on Waze, most of the time. Also Waze keeps directing me on most idiotic side little roads, recently I nearly got stuck in a muddy road somewhere in the British countryside because of Waze because I decided to trust it. Again, no such p…

waze acts as if it treats all roads as wide, level, straight paths, and expects ppl to speed on them bc it sends me on twisty, steep, narrow 25mph roads with low visibility so they canxt be sped on.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#167

Post by pixiemagic »

martyvis wrote: post #149

The article says "Many of us know TomTom for its PNDs" - yet I am sure nobody would know what a PND is as that acronym. (I haven't looked it up, but from the context I am sure it is Personal Navigation Device - you know the thing that everyone wrongly calls a GPS)

Yeah, I worked with TomTom a while back and you are correct, it was an acronym that was commonly used internally, but at least the people I was working with knew that nobody outside the company had any idea what it meant.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#168

Post by frankfrankfrank »

Thlom wrote: post #112
fork-while-fork wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google maps with Android Auto does auto-learn popular/regular destinations and suggests them at appropriate times. It works pretty well.

Apple Maps as well, but I have no idea why I would need directions to work from home ...

You’ve clearly not enjoyed the benefits of progress yet where you are. Don’t worry, I’m sure it will reach you eventually. It is progress after all.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#169

Post by 0xFF0123 »

Semaphor wrote: post #7
Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #6

OpenStreetMap is the second most-important resource on the Internet, after the Wikipedia.

And if you are on android, there’s a super simple and easy, lightly gamified, app to help improve their data: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/StreetComplete

Thanks for a great recommendation!

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#170

Post by mhandley »

Thlom wrote: post #112
fork-while-fork wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google maps with Android Auto does auto-learn popular/regular destinations and suggests them at appropriate times. It works pretty well.

Apple Maps as well, but I have no idea why I would need directions to work from home ...

Driving in the London suburbs, I know how to get most places I want to go. In fact I usually know several different routes that are roughly similar in travel time. Google maps is excellent for telling me which one of those routes is least congested right now. So I'm not really using it for navigation, but for congestion information. It very rarely suggests a route I don't know, but I use it all the time anyway.
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