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

341–350 of 477 posts

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#341

Post by reitanqild »

manuelabeledo wrote: post #73
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,…

I may be mistaken, but I think all those features, plus traffic data, are built in both Google and Apple Maps as well. Also, phones generally have larger and brighter screens, and more accurate GPS. I don’t see the advantage of TomTom here.

Problem is, for me at least, Google is useless for predictions or recommendations. Search is still better than DDG, but way worse than peak Google.

Their recommendations are all over the place despite the fact that I have been logged in permanently in some form or another since GMail where still invite only.

No one else except my wife and my parents know more about me (and to be perfectly clear they know different subsets of me) but yet Google still insist on showing me the most irrelevant and annoying ads and suggest I call people at work in the middle of the night etc etc.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#342

Post by lotsofpulp »

zelphirkalt wrote: post #215
dmd wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's exactly what I'm trying to understand. What is the problem people have with it? Maybe if you tell me, I'll feel the same way!

It is not only you. The more people are OK with this, the higher the danger for other people, who are not OK with this, because data adds up and usually becomes more information than the sum of its parts. Tracking and spying are a danger to people, whose work requires them to not be tracked and found. People like journalists in oppressive regimes. While people run around merily sacrificing their privacy for the reaso…

The solution to this complete transparency for all, but that is also a pipe dream.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#343

Post by kawfey »

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,…

> ou 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 automatically selects "work" as your destination. Then around 4pm, it will select "Home". At 8pm it doesn't select anything because it has no record of you going anywhere around that time usually) - something super basic that no one has ever done.

This is exactly how Apple Maps works, for me. It suggests a destination based on my patterns.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#344

Post by hbn »

jstummbillig wrote: post #323
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,…

> 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.

I try to not use Google services where I can help it, but not using Google Maps to me just feels like risking screwing up my day. The fact that it's what everyone uses makes it the safe bet. They have so many users being tracked in real-time to reroute me around detours and traffic jams as soon as they happen, I don't really want to try anything else.

If I use an alternative and get stuck in traffic, I'm not gonna be thinking about how proud I am of myself for sitting in traffic in the name of sticking it to Google. I'm gonna be thinking "should have used Google Maps"

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#345

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #103
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A two-line text display is still a screen. My dad's early-2000s Peugeot 407 also had a similar set-up: a red/orange monochrome dot-matrix display, with a surprisingly hot backlight, capable of displaying only the most rudiminary of roundabout diagrams and now-and-next directions. It did use TTS to pronounce street names with the wrong inflection and an overemphasis on "yAAARds" as units-of-distance for some reason. I…

(Gonna be the lightning rod of hate here for a moment) > And still the rest of the car industry doesn't "get" good UX. Le sigh. Imho, a giant 17" touchscreen that replaces most physical controls in a car is also not good UX for a car. Why do you need high-res satellite imagery of your route on a screen in the center of the car? Just look out the window! I'll grant that most other manufacturers also do a poor job of a…

> Why do you need high-res satellite imagery of your route on a screen in the center of the car? Just look out the window!

Because it’s incredibly useful.

It means you can navigate dirt tracks. See over treeelines. Judge the quality of parking lots. Find out what side of the building the driveway or entrance is on. Etc.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#346

Post by drsopp »

hunter2_ wrote: post #322
drsopp wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The app was still available in the app store, but from a certain date they wanted more money for me to still use it on my unchanged device.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#347

Post by Liquid_Fire »

int_19h wrote: post #230
shukantpal wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can download maps offline in Google Maps

You can only download them in explicitly specified chunks (not e.g. one whole state, much less whole country), and they expire if you don't update them regularly.

Technically you can download a particular region as well. e.g. search for "Belgium", click on the ... > Download offline map.

However, it still downloads an arbitrary rectangle, and there is still the same maximum size; it just automatically centers it on what you selected and gives it a reasonable name.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#348

Post by drsopp »

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?

Not the data, but the user interface.

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#349

Post by ElijahLynn »

Searching the article for the words:

"open" - 19 results

"open-source" - 4 results

The "open-source" refers to using other's open-source data, no mention of TomTom's.

e.g.

"The world lacks a truly open and collaborative mapping ecosystem, one that doesn’t follow a one-size-fits-all model but is flexible so that businesses can build according to their needs. One that fosters collaboration, data sharing and open innovation."

What does "open" really mean in their doublespeak?

Re: TomTom’s new mapping platform and ecosystem

#350

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

mosburger wrote: post #182
genocidicbunny wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Gonna be the lightning rod of hate here for a moment) > And still the rest of the car industry doesn't "get" good UX. Le sigh. Imho, a giant 17" touchscreen that replaces most physical controls in a car is also not good UX for a car. Why do you need high-res satellite imagery of your route on a screen in the center of the car? Just look out the window! I'll grant that most other manufacturers also do a poor job of a…

no hate here - the "replace everything with an iPad" movement of car dash design has been generally, IMO, a horrible change. When driving, you need tactile feedback when adjusting things like the cabin temperature so that you can keep your eyes on the road. Replacing knobs with GUI sliders on a screen that you have to see to manipulate is a step backwards. I would love it if auto manufacturers came to their senses an…

I agree entirely. Heterogenous (I.e. distinctly shaped) physical controls are essential for safe driving without taking one’s eyes off the road.

…but that doesn’t mean my last car’s abysmal “Ford MyTouch” or “Ford Sync” or whatever they rebrand it’s as was ever fit-for-purpose. How can a UI that can’t render faster than ~5fps be considered acceptable by the world’s leading carmaker? Where is the pride in their work?

Post reply on HN