The post I replied to claim "Apple just pick OSM", and my answer remains... it would not have solved any of the issues that people are complaining about.
It didn't say 'Apple just pick OSM' (which implies picking OSM would solve all their problems), and as I've pointed out, there are problems with data which it would solve. Here are some examples:
These are serious problems with data which Apple will have a nightmare fixing as there are just so many holes in their data outside the US, and they're now waiting for mapping companies like tomtom for updates, or they'll have to fork and then try to merge with tomtom/etc data later again.
For many (I'd say most) users of the maps app, the order of priorities are something like:
1. Accuracy of map data
2. Coverage of map data
3. Accuracy of map searches (streets, postcodes, POIs)
4. Routing (this is hard problem though)
5. Satellite imagery (for some this would be above routing)
6. Streetview (for some this would be higher)
7. 3D stuff
OSM would help with the first three points (along with other sources of course, just as say tomtom needs supplemented), and would also help in future as other people would do the hard mapping and updating work for apple, which will otherwise prove to be a mammoth task.
Everything else is far less important than getting the basic mapping data right first, including 3D renders of major cities, and even satellite data (nice to have, but less important than basic search and display of accurate mapping).
If they used OSM data and imported (say) every month, they could just tell people to visit OSM to make corrections, and problem areas would gradually get better. As it is they're going to have to sift through hundreds of thousands of reports of missing roads etc which just say 'this is broken, fix it', and they're likely to just be submerged under that workload. Anyway, I don't think we're saying such different things - I'm not saying OSM would cure all Apple's problems or even most of them, just that I thought it would be the best choice for them for the most important facet of their map product, the basic vector data, which is sorely lacking at present and unlikely to rapidly improve.
It didn't say 'Apple just pick OSM' (which implies picking OSM would solve all their problems), and as I've pointed out, there are problems with data which it would solve. Here are some examples:
Puna, Peru, roads in the water http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=-15.8559322357178&lon=...
Cayman Islands, no road data http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=19.2949&lon=-81.343...
These are serious problems with data which Apple will have a nightmare fixing as there are just so many holes in their data outside the US, and they're now waiting for mapping companies like tomtom for updates, or they'll have to fork and then try to merge with tomtom/etc data later again.
For many (I'd say most) users of the maps app, the order of priorities are something like:
1. Accuracy of map data
2. Coverage of map data
3. Accuracy of map searches (streets, postcodes, POIs)
4. Routing (this is hard problem though)
5. Satellite imagery (for some this would be above routing)
6. Streetview (for some this would be higher)
7. 3D stuff
OSM would help with the first three points (along with other sources of course, just as say tomtom needs supplemented), and would also help in future as other people would do the hard mapping and updating work for apple, which will otherwise prove to be a mammoth task.
Everything else is far less important than getting the basic mapping data right first, including 3D renders of major cities, and even satellite data (nice to have, but less important than basic search and display of accurate mapping).
If they used OSM data and imported (say) every month, they could just tell people to visit OSM to make corrections, and problem areas would gradually get better. As it is they're going to have to sift through hundreds of thousands of reports of missing roads etc which just say 'this is broken, fix it', and they're likely to just be submerged under that workload. Anyway, I don't think we're saying such different things - I'm not saying OSM would cure all Apple's problems or even most of them, just that I thought it would be the best choice for them for the most important facet of their map product, the basic vector data, which is sorely lacking at present and unlikely to rapidly improve.