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Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

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Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#21

Post by toomuchtodo »

alasdair_ wrote: post #14
iancarroll wrote: post #6

This title seems inaccurate. The article makes it sound like the data is just retrieved, from Microsoft, when using a specific editor. OSM doesn’t actually have the data nor are they are distributing it.

Exactly. The title is pretty bad. All they are doing is displaying the data in one particular editor. It's like displaying google streetmaps in another window when you edited open streetmaps - there is no "contribution" of data at all.

This is not true. What you described would violate Google’s copyright on their mapping data (or the copyright owner they’ve licensed it from, depending on the data).

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#22

Post by simula67 »

Good news. These types of data intensive apps ( Google search, Google Maps etc ) are one of the greatest threats to the open web because they make it very painful to switch to an alternate provider. Keeping this type of data open ( along with open data interchange formats ) could improve competition in service providers

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#23

Post by sgtmas2006 »

49bc wrote: post #19
partiallypro wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

> Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose. Yet they don't. So either they're not as scary as "Microsoft was even at its peak", or maybe they're not as powerful as you make them out to be.

Do we know this?

It is not possible truly to know one way or another at a complete level, although it is unlikely. Saying they are not this powerful is, well, simply not true. It is not possible without creating a huge skunk-works internal project binding people to secrecy.

Google doesn't have the power to bind people to secrecy in the same way that say, the CIA, FBI, or NSA do. It does not mean that they do not have the capability of doing these things.

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#24

Post by vezycash »

49bc wrote: post #19
partiallypro wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

> Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose. Yet they don't. So either they're not as scary as "Microsoft was even at its peak", or maybe they're not as powerful as you make them out to be.

The key difference btw Google and Microsoft is this:

If MS harmed you, you'd know. If Google intends to harm you, it looks like a stroke of bad luck.

All they have to do is hide the tree (you the person they intend to harm) within the forest (thousands of other sites/businesses) affected by the same policy change.

You could go months without finding out. And if you ever do, it's extremely difficult to prove foul play.

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#25

Post by matte_black »

partiallypro wrote: post #12
ggg9990 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it’s an attack on Google Maps, and that’s a good thing. People should be happy to have Microsoft’s help in fighting Google because Google is much scarier than Microsoft these days.

Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

The sheep are afraid of the sheepdog because it looks too much like the wolf.

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#26

Post by earenndil »

partiallypro wrote: post #12
ggg9990 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it’s an attack on Google Maps, and that’s a good thing. People should be happy to have Microsoft’s help in fighting Google because Google is much scarier than Microsoft these days.

Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

Aditionally, it's (mostly) possible to avoid contact with microsoft by simply not using their products. With google, you can't help their ads in webpages, their hosting the email or messaging services your friends use; if someone send me a docx file, I can open in libreoffice, if they send me a google doc, I can't avoid it.

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#27

Post by TeMPOraL »

matte_black wrote: post #25
partiallypro wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

The sheep are afraid of the sheepdog because it looks too much like the wolf.

The sheep would do wise to remember that the sheepdog and the shepherd aren't good actors - the fate of the sheep is to be sheared and eaten.

Re: Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor

#29

Post by threatofrain »

partiallypro wrote: post #12
ggg9990 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it’s an attack on Google Maps, and that’s a good thing. People should be happy to have Microsoft’s help in fighting Google because Google is much scarier than Microsoft these days.

Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

Google's advantages seem brittle, as their moats aren't as concrete as Microsoft's, and their revenue sources aren't diversified at all. People could replace their relationship to Google far more easily than with Microsoft.

If ChromeOS doesn't take off, I wonder if Google could be temporarily locked out of mainstream desktops and laptops in the AI assistant race.

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