[OSM-talk] Things People Say

[Thomas Davie]

> 
>> Instead, we should simply have something
>> similar to what google maps had at the top of the map – a series of
>> buttons that let you select the style you want to view it in.
> 
> And how will this let the user find out that there is an iPhone app for planning outdoor running tracks based on OSM? That they can turn their Android tablets into car navigation systems powered by OSM? That there is an educational 3D globe for their desktop? That there is an entire map portal dedicated to wheelchair accessibility?
> 
> We should actively advertise the many third-party products made from OSM, many of which go far beyond putting a map into your browser. We should work hard on the database that makes them all possible. But we don't have to build and offer these products ourselves.

We should – but not directly on the front page.  The single biggest mistake I've seen any open source project make is to have a web page which is all links to other stuff.  I don't want on my first visit to open street map to be confronted with a wall of text that I'll read the first paragraph of and then close my browser... Instead, I want to see immediately "oh hay, this is a project that creates maps, oh look, there's one that shows all the busses in my city, oh cool, there's one for wheelchair accessibility, wow, they show paths on some of their maps"... and *then* go "I wonder, could I get this really awesome cool thing on my iPhone".

Tom Davie