[OSM-talk] Response to A critique of OpenStreetMap

80n 80n80n at gmail.com
Thu Oct 14 17:42:50 BST 2010


On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 4:32 PM, Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> wrote:

> Paul,
>
>
> Paul Houle wrote:
>
>>    However,  I'll say that the claim that "we don't have the resources to
>> do it right" is a "bad smell" that I often perceive around organizations
>> that are in a death spiral.  Back when I worked in the library field,  it
>> struck me that librarians were just conceding everything to the likes of
>> AMZN and GOOG.
>>
>
> I think you haven't understood what Milo said.
>
> OSM is not a competitor to Goole, Bing, or Mapquest. OSM is a competitor to
> Navteq and Tele Atlas. We do have the resources to do that right and we're
> using them.
>
> Navteq and Tele Atlas have rubbish map web sites, if any, because it is not
> their core competency to make cool map web sites - they are a supplier to
> those who do.
>
> And so are we. We are indeed "conceding" making cool map web sites to the
> users of our data, because this is not our core competency and not our
> strategic aim.
>
> Anyone can make a cool web site showing off OSM data. That's why we don't
> have to.
>

A rendered map is a real motivator for contributors.  That's why osm.org has
maps.  If the map looks rubbish, and Google MapMaker for example, had better
looking maps then you can expect some percentage of contributors to go there
instead.

It is in the best interest of OSM to have really cool renderings up front in
OSM.

80n
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