[Talk-GB] Import UK postcode data?
Mark Goodge
mark at good-stuff.co.uk
Fri Oct 4 18:51:07 UTC 2019
On 04/10/2019 01:52, ndrw6 at redhazel.co.uk wrote:
>
> This may not be a perfect solution but the information CPO/ONSPD
> contains is still extremely useful for geocoding. Search for a postcode
> and you are _guaranteed_ to get an address in a close vicinity to a
> place you are looking for. How about not needing to start Google Maps
> when searching for a location on the go?
I entirely agree with this. You can search for any postcode on Google
Maps, Bing Maps, Here Maps and Michelin Maps, to name just the ones I've
checked right now. The reality is that people expect postcodes to be a
functional search term on online mapping, at least in the UK, and not
having it places OSM at a distinct disadvantage compared to the
commercial mapping operators. Given that postcode data is itself
available under a compatible licence, refusing to use it because of
purist notions of what a map should be is, in my opinion, simply a case
of cutting off our noses to spite our face. It's important that OSM
gives users what they want from a map, not just what mapping geeks want
from a map. And users want postcodes - all of them - to be a functional
search term.
In fact, OSM can easily do better than Google et al when it comes to
postcodes. One of their biggest faults is the lag on adding new
postcodes - it can take up to 18 months before new postcodes become
usable search terms on Google Maps. With an automated import, OSM can be
as up to date as the latest release of CPO/ONSPD. And that's a positive
selling point for our data.
Mark
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