[Talk-GB] New map style

[Mark Goodge]

On 31/10/2015 22:27, Chris Hill wrote:

> We should all keep in mind that the standard map on the OSM website is
> not OSM. It is just a single render as an example of what is possible.
> There are thousands of renders out there (I must have made more than a
> dozen). Making your own map tiles in your own style is not that hard and
> not very hard or expensive to host if you have a real need to do it.

Easy for you and me, maybe. But not easy for the average user of online 
maps.

I don't disagree with the basic argument that OSM is fundamentally about 
the data, not the visual appearance of the website at 
http://openstreetmap.org. But, to the vast majority of users of OSM 
(that is, the type of user who is not represented on these mailing 
lists), the website *is* OpenStreetMap. If we are serious about making 
OSM a resource for the ordinary web user, as an alternative to Google 
and Bing, then we need to take those users into account. So the UX of 
the default presentation of OSM does matter, and matters a lot.

Mark