[OSM-talk] Using OpenStreetMap on a daily basis

[Simon Poole]

Am 11.07.2013 01:14, schrieb Kai Krueger:
>
> With regard to competing with commercial OSM users: My impression is that
> nearly all businesses around OSM, aren't really trying to be a direct
> competitor to google maps either. And with perhaps the exception of open
> mapquest, non of them are trying to build an end-user facing mapping portal
> as a website. Instead nearly all of them are trying to sell products and
> services or use OSM data directly in third party sites like Fourscare,
> craigslist, News sites, or games, where maps are important, but not the
> central focus of the company. Or they use OSM in the mobile domain.
>
> So expanding osm.org to cater to more of average joe's mapping needs won't
> hurt any of the OSM based businesses, as it doesn't impact their business
> model. To the contrary, I am sure most of them would love to see a
> strengthening of the OSM brand and an associated improvement of the mapdata. 
> And even if it did. OSM's primary purpose isn't to provide businesses with
> free resources to make money.
>
>
Skobbler has an end-user orientated site and there are a number of
smaller others. OSM providing such a site is simply a major policy
change and it needs to be thought about and discussed in such a context
and not in  "I want a feature on the main site" squabbles. The "future"
working group is working on exactly such issues.

That said, my personal feeling is that there was probably never enough
breathing space between the rock bottom bare minimum map site that OSM
provides and full featured google to grow a successful business with a
non-special interest OSM based mapping site. And with my marketing hat
on I'm fairly sure that at a global level there is just room for one
further player besides google, that place is currently vacant, with a
couple of contenders that are all struggling.

Simon