[Openstreetmap] update

[Nick Whitelegg]

>>Yes, I admit that just throwing "Flickr of maps" out there isn't
>>great way to describe what I mean, but basically what I'm talki
>>about is a shift in emphasis from pseudo-anonymous uncredited editing
>>of maps to socialising *around* maps.  What Jyri Engestrom identifies
>>as "object-centered sociality"
>>http://www.zengestrom.com/blog/2005/04/why_some_social.html
>>

>I see what you are getting at here and I like the idea a lot. It's a cool
>way to go. However I also see that this is a layer of function and
usability
>that sits as a layer on top of the guts and grunt of OSM. It's what makes
>OSM cool rather than what makes it happen. To make it happen we need a
>sustainable platform. It's how we get to that first step, bearing in mind
>the wish for cool features to be based upon it, that IMHO we must
reconcile
>fairly swiftly.

Not sure how relevant this is to the discussion but I like the idea of OSM
as a web service, a data provider, which can be connected to by different
clients. Each client can pull out data relevant to itself, and present data
- and offer functionality - appropriate to the client.

For example free-map.org.uk can focus on countryside data, while
FreeSouthamptonMap.org (not yet existent BTW) could focus on pubs, clubs,
restaurants and cinemas. Each client could then grab what it likes out of
OSM, but each client would have its own functionality.

Each client could even have its own editor - for example Freemap could have
an online editor particularly appropriate to members of the countryside. My
preference (and Tom appears to be keen to try this out) is an SVG/AJAX
editor (admittedly Firefox 1.5 only ATM).

Nick