[OSM-talk] OSM-Garmin relationship?

[Jaakko Helleranta.com]

Hi,

Does someone know if there is some sort of relationship between OSM and
Garmin?

The reason I'm asking is that
1) as you may know OSM is the only good enough map (data) for Haiti that
e.g. makes routing possible -- now or in the foreseeable future (and most
probably beyond).
2) Without GPS+good map finding one's way around in Haiti is difficult even
for people who are pretty good in navigation (says me who did good chunk of
my military service in Navy/navigation)
3) My understanding is that Garmin is the only stand-along navigator that
works (at least somewhat well) with OSM data (which my testing in the last
months has "proven")
4) Someone who was/is interested in bringing Garmin (or any other
functioning navigators) to Haitian market contacted Garmin and got a
response from Someone there who said that Garmin is not supporting OSM and
does not recommend it due to "warranty reasons" (what ever on earth that
would be!). They instead referred the guy asking about Garmin's interest in
Haiti to Navteq.
... Of which I can only think that the person at Garmin didn't know what
s/he was talking about. Or then, Garmin Really doesn't like OSM + don't
understand and/or care about Haiti / other similar areas. Or I don't
understand something.

Any ideas / alternatives?

The way I see this is that getting devices that use OSM data to
peoples'/organizations' use in Haiti would not only make their
lives/operations easier/ more efficient and through that help boost the
development of Haiti but also increase the "organic" need and hence
possibilities for resources to improving the Haiti OSM data further.

Cheers,
-Jaakko
--
http://osm.org/user/jaakkoh
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