Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

tomtom.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 477 posts

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#171

Post by muststopmyths »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #110
kleiba wrote: post #3

For the youngens here on HN: TomTom was once one of the leading manufacturers of GPS navigation systems for cars - purchased as an accessory that was stuck to the wind screen. This was in a time before every car had a screen built in, and before everyone had a smart phone with Google Maps in their pocket. I guess that product is a prime example for becoming irrelevant by society progressing. I actually still use an o…

Nowadays most people just use their smartphone, but there's definitely one market where an "old fashioned" navigation thing like this is still relevant: motorcycles. They need to be high contrast, low power usage (because most motorcycles don't have a power outlet), waterproof, offline, and resistive touch screens (because gloves). I did look into them at one point, but they had a €500 price tag which is a bit steep.

Most motorcycle GPSes like Garmin do have wiring harnesses to connect to the battery. You can also load OSM maps on them for cases where Garmin's are too expensive

Edit: they are also weather resistant which is a huge plus over most phones

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#172

Post by scrapcode »

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…

I must agree. I do not remember a very pleasant experience using the GPS dash units. I would move often with the Navy and would use the GPS unit for a couple weeks but challenge myself as soon as possible to learn to get around without it. Now when I am going somewhere over 30 minutes away I throw it into GMaps even if I know how to get there, as there could be a number of events that could've caused a reroute since the last time I took that route.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#173

Post by n4r9 »

shp0ngle wrote: post #143
habi wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every item on OSM (node, way, relation) is versioned and has a history. If you can link us to your changes I’m happy to try to help find out why your change was reverted. Usually that’s only the case for blatant errors, copying from proprietary maps (ehm, Google Maps) or vandalism. We’re trying to be a friendly bunch, and I’d like to get you back as an editor.

I don’t want to ask here (don’t want to mix up my identities), where should I actually ask? In what forum

One option you have is to find the changeset that undid your edit and start a discussion with the user in question.

To find the changeset, navigate to the location on openstreetmap.org, right-click, query features, and select the feature in question. The web page should then look like this: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/93668654/

In the left pane click "View history" to see all the changesets affecting that feature. Find the one you want, then click the link next to "Changeset #". The web page should then look like this: https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/104465654

The comment on the changeset might already contain enough information to answer why it undid your edit. If not, the left pane now has a text box for you to add a comment to the discussion. The user in question should receive a notification/email when you comment, and will hopefully engage in the discussion.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#174

Post by frankfrankfrank »

izacus wrote: post #87
chrisseaton wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> something super basic that no one has ever done Errr all maps apps do this.

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.

That is an edge case that Google could but does not seemingly accommodate, but very well could. It’s likely not just that you have no GPS, it’s also likely that you have no mobile or Wi-Fi signal reception, both of which could inform on your location, if implemented.

That being said, why do you need your navigation to start while in your garage? Just start it before you enter your garage or right as you drive out of it if you want to benefit from GMaps benefits.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#176

Post by dspillett »

hotcoffeebear wrote: post #55
gambiting wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a modern car with a built-in satnav as well as Android Auto support, and yet I still use my TomTom 5000 - it's just better. Definitely better than crappy Google Maps, definitely better than volvo's built-in maps, and it's without any kind of comparison how much better it is than Apple Maps. You get in the car, it auto-selects the destination based on the patterns it learnt(so if you get in at 7am on a workday,…

Tom Tom used to charge for map updates, which became a no-go for many. The same thing thing with built-in ones. Toyota asked 60 euro for the map updates and unfortunately no android/ios auto.. i am going between google maps / apple maps. I find routes better in google maps but i love apple maps voice indications better. I still have also a free lifetime update tomtom but it very slow to add destination etc.

> Tom Tom used to charge for map updates, which became a no-go for many.

There was also an instance when they unceremoniously stopped supporting updates on “old” devices that were not actually that old and were in fact still actively being sold in stores (in the UK at least). I know people who switched to alternatives (the smartphone option in all cases IIRC) and vowed they'd never pay for another TomTom device again after that.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#177

Post by contravariant »

dchuk wrote: post #128
contravariant wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow that's an unclear graph, putting the first tick-mark at 1B gives the impression that you're starting at 0, but there is in fact over 0.5B missing from the bottom of the plot. Good trick to remember I suppose.

Any chart that isn't zeroed out is a bad chart

It's kind of inevitable for log-plots.

Or non-absolute quantities like temperature in Fahrenheit/Celsius. (You can use Kelvin instead, but good luck interpreting that plot)

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#178

Post by arrrg »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #132
arrrg wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing to do with copyright at all. Reporters can do with the text however they please. There are no practical legal issues involved. It‘s about making things as convenient as possible for journalists, not legal enforcement of anything.

> It‘s about making things as convenient as possible for journalists I'm not so sure about that being the principal motive. I think it's actually a way to exert control. I remember discussions with our marketing folks. Pretty eye-opening. "Communication," in corporations, is really about controlling and shaping the message, and building the brand. You see these coordinated campaigns, all the time. Usually, they are e…

I mean, sure, controlling the message is how you can call it, but that doesn’t mean the legal threats (or threats of any kind) are doing the actual controlling.

When I say “it‘s about making things as convenient as possible for journalists” what I mean by that (and what I thought I had made pretty clear) is not that convenience for the journalist is the ultimate goal.

The ultimate goal is to get the messages about your announcement you want to have published published. The convenience is a stepping stone towards that destination. That way you exert control without force or threats. It’s the carrot.

Which is not to say that threats are absent from corporate communication. Just not as part of press release writing and publishing.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#179

Post by netsectoday »

fs111 wrote: post #10

I worked at Tele Atlas/TomTom until 10 years ago. There is literally nothing new in this announcement except that they are going to "steal" data from OSM now. sensor derived data, user generated content, camera vans all of that is not new. All this existed when I left, so did the people mentioned in this announcement that are still running the show. I always hoped they would eventually realize that they need a fresh…

Do you know that Microsoft Bing maps also "steals" the OSM data? They did some very clever "reverse stealing" as well when they contributed back to the project by providing millions of accurate building footprints.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic. It's a win-win situation when ANY large mapping group joins OSM. At the very least; they will accidentally contribute road-level improvements when they work with the data. I rely upon OSM data and need these large players throwing their weight behind this mapping system.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#180

Post by UltraViolence »

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…

I have a TomTom PND and I swear by it. It's much better than the navigation systems built into cars (unless they're TomTom, several brands have them built-in).

Also, I refuse to use Google Maps as I am loath to let Google know my travel history. I am, however, somewhat concerned that TomTom uploads my travel history to their servers, since my device has LTE/3G capability. This was used to fetch congestion information and to offer a smarter / faster route, but since I don't have a subscription the service stopped after a free trial period.

Post reply on HN