[OSM-talk] [talk-au] Software goes on, brain goes off...

[Emilie Laffray]

On 1 June 2010 09:39, Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> John Smith wrote:
> >>
> http://searchengineland.com/woman-follows-google-maps-walking-directions-gets-hit-sues-43212
> >
> > I wonder if she's eligible for an honourable mention from the darwin
> awards?
>
> After all the brouhaha maybe there's time for some serious thought.
>
> Without knowing the exact circumstances of that case, try to put
> yourself into a situation like this: You are in an unknown city, maybe
> even in a foreign city. The roads are laid out differently from what
> you're used to. You are under stress for some reason or other, say you
> have an appointment and have not had the time to look it up on a map,
> you're somewhat lost, insecure, with limited sense of where you are and
> where you have to go to. Assume you cannot afford a taxi, or don't even
> know how and where to call one. But wait! There's the Blackberry with
> "experimental" Google maps on it, and lo and behold, it says your
> destination is only 25 minutes away on foot...
>
> I consider myself to be fairly intelligent and my judgment and
> situational awareness are generally ok, but honestly, I think it could
> happen to me (if I had a Blackberry).
>
> The only difference is that I would not sue Google if it happened to me.
> But then I don't live in a country where I'm bombarded with like "Have
> you been involved in an accident? We may be able to make money from
> that, call 0-800-frivolous-solicitors" all the time.
>

The point raised is interesting as it was raised during a conference
recently in France. During the data quality roundtable where I was speaking,
there was a question about liability about mapping. It is clearly something
where there is no answer right now even for commercial companies. Putting
disclaimer is all fine but it may not stop some people.

Emilie Laffray
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