[OSM-talk] Portal for end users

Steve Coast steve at asklater.com
Tue Sep 15 14:49:15 UTC 2015


> On Sep 15, 2015, at 1:21 AM, Simon Poole <simon at poole.ch> wrote:
> Over the years the expectation has been that somebody would take OSM
> data and create such an end user portal, but as we know, that has never
> happened outside a couple of aborted or zombie projects (three that come
> to mind are MapQuest, bing and skobbler, but I'm sure there have been more).
> 
> I once asked around what the original vision was for OSM, but nobody
> seemed to be sure if originally the intention was to cater for
> end-users, it definitely hasn't been the case for the majority of the
> roughly 10 years the project has been around.

It was. Why that didn’t happen is a long story.

As for the rest of the email - a kickstarter project would probably work, but not by committee.

> In any case the main problem is that it is not possible to build a sane
> commercial business plan around providing such a portal and that
> providing maps is just one (now days small, thanks to OSM) part of what
> a viable map portal/app would need to offer as Frederik has already
> pointed out (note this is not limited to OSM, one of the reasons for the
> rapid dispatching of Here/Navteq by Nokia was the failed attempt to
> provide exactly such a end-user service).
> 
> Naturally the main competitor for an audience is google which is likely
> sinking billions into google maps with nearly no direct income from the
> service (google doesn't actually disclose any specific numbers, what is
> however known is their advertising revenue vs. other sources). I think
> it is clear that competing on a commercial footing is just completely
> out of the question and -not- going to happen, so Frederik is being a
> bit misleading if he points to that as a realistic possibility.
> 
> What is largely unexplored is a non-commercial operation at the level
> that would be necessary to provide the missing bits and pieces. Given
> the intolerance of the masses for a less than google like perfection
> (see the issues Strava is having and that with an audience that
> historically has been sympathetic to OSM) and the problem that you have
> at least one viable commercial operator in the market, obtaining
> sufficient funding is likely to be -very- difficult.
> 
> Simon
> 
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