[OSM-talk] [Candidacy] AGM Foundation 2010 - Girona

[John F. Eldredge]

I agree about the importance of being able to find a location via its postal address.  One of the most frequent reasons for looking up a location on an online map is so you can find out where on a long street a particular address is located.  This is one of the chief advantages that an online map has over a paper map.

-- 
John F. Eldredge -- john at jfeldredge.com
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

-----Original Message-----
From: "Oliver \(skobbler\)" <osm.oliver.kuehn at gmx.de>
Sender: talk-bounces at openstreetmap.org
Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2010 01:22:01 
To: <talk at openstreetmap.org>
Subject: Re: [OSM-talk] [Candidacy] AGM Foundation 2010 - Girona


>>>I thought one of the goals was to have OSM used more widely?
>>
>> This is the right type of question but you need to create an even more
>> basic
>> understanding: I haven't seen a common understanding of the definition of
>> OSM's success. Where did you find the goal of a wider use? Wider use by
>
>I didn't find it anywhere, but what's the point in having the best
>maps in the world if no one uses them?

If this is the case then I think it would be very important to push address
referencing (more important than discussing a license change) as it is the
natural confidence test: Can I find my home address on the map? So far, it
is one of the weakest points as you normally don't find an address if you
look for it by using a postal code or your house number. It works in a few
large cities but that's it. If you can only zoom in to a specific place then
you will use Google Maps the next time you are looking for specific
address...

And that is my whole point: I think it is much more important to distill the
strategic goals out of the community's mind and then focus the efforts on a
few selective initiates rather than having hundreds of parallel projects.

Some people might want to achieve a wider use for humanitarian projects.
Then address referencing won't help and a license change won't change
either. There needs to be common understanding of the vision where OSM is
seen in five years from now.

Regards,
Oliver
--
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