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TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

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Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#321

Post by habi »

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

Do as the others said here.

Sometimes one can find specific local communities here, too: https://openstreetmap.community/

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#322

Post by hunter2_ »

drsopp wrote: post #250
gehsty wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of interest how long did you expect them to support a lifetime subscription for?

As long as the existence of their service through an iPhone app.

In your original comment, you said they stopped the service, and now you're saying you expected to have it until they stopped the service.

Did you mean they stopped your particular subscription only, for having changed your device?

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#323

Post by jstummbillig »

gambiting wrote: post #47
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…

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,…

> It's just better. Definitely better than crappy Google Maps

I struggling to see how anything could be "definitely" better than "crappy" Google Maps. To me, GMaps has made navigation about as exciting as using a door knob. It works without fail, and is so incredibly mundane, that the thought of forming a strong opinion about it makes me drowsy.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#324

Post by ryandrake »

habi wrote: post #134
shp0ngle wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I gave up trying to edit mistakes on OSM. I edited something, one month later someone reverted it back without any explanation. And the UX for discussion is even worse than on Wikipedia, which is saying something. So I have no idea why it was reverted, no idea how to contact the guy and no mood to investigate. So my street has a wrong name and I am too lazy to change it

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 remember quite a few years ago when I once went into OSM and fixed some streets in Las Vegas by "unbraiding" the intersections, in other words converting intersections with ways that joined at one point to ways that joined in a tic-tac-toe pattern. I believe this was considered best practice at the time in OSM. Well, a few days later, I got a very angry private message from some guy complaining that I edited "his" nicely braided roads and demanding that I revert the edit. I was kind of a newbie at the time so I did what he said and stopped editing for a while.

I've since gotten back into editing here and there, but the initial experience likely prevented me from really getting into OSM and becoming some kind of editing master.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#325

Post by friend_and_foe »

tekchip wrote: post #306

OSM and OsmAnd seem great except when you want to search for something. If I search for "mcdonalds" typed lazily I get 5 results hundreds of miles away. To find the local Mcdonalds restaurant I have to type "McDonald's" very specifically. This lack of fuzzy search makes these apps unusable. Its an unfortunate situation of the two parties involved in this software each pointing at each other and blaming the other with…

I wouldn't say that makes it unusable, I use it. But it is annoying using third parry to search and then using OSM for navigation.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#326

Post by friend_and_foe »

club_tropical wrote: post #302

Curious, does anybody navigate without GPS? Why do you do it? I occasionally challenge myself, and I am always surprised how much more active my mind is, compared to GPS where my mind is passively glancing at the screen every few seconds to see if I'm on course and next turn.

I do it, because I lived in a time when you had to and I want to keep that part of my mind sharp. I'll use GPS to go somewhere novel, but after once, maybe twice, i make a point to just go there without assistance.

If you don't navigate you lose spatial awareness over time, I know some people who can't tell you how to get to their job from their house.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#327

Post by Youden »

nashashmi wrote: post #290
drsopp wrote: post #129

I will never forgive TomTom's bait and switch: I bought a lifetime subscription of their app for my iPhone for about $50. After a few years they stopped the service claiming that "lifetime" meant the lifetime of the device.

What’s the advantage in Tom Tom traffic data that google traffic data or apple provided data cannot give?

Can't speak for the parent but for me it's not the traffic data but the in-car UI. Different apps give different experiences. The HERE maps bundled with my car for example tell me the best lane to be in ahead of time. Not just on the highway but also in the city, which makes it much easier to be in the right lane at the right time.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#330

Post by artificialLimbs »

joking wrote: post #216
bloak wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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? :-)

there is a better option, public data from guvernamental entities, data available to open street map, google maps or tom tom, that could be able to enrich it as they wish, but the base should be open. wishful thinking, I know.

Better for some. That means we all have to foot the bill for the infrastructure/maintenance. Paying a private company voluntarily would be preferable.
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