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Wikipedia Mobile Apps Switch To OpenStreetMap

Posted by timothy on from the location-aware dept.

Techdirt reports that the latest versions of Wikipedia's mobile apps have switched to OpenStreetMap from Google Maps. Says Techdirt's commentary: "One wonders how Google didn't see this coming — or if they did, what exactly their strategy is here. OpenStreetMap is gaining a lot of momentum, and in some areas even features much better data. The real lesson here is that there's never an incumbent that isn't at risk of being unseated, no matter how widespread the adoption of their product or service—especially if they make an anti-customer decision like Google when it put a price tag on Maps. The situation also points to the long-term strength of open solutions: while a crowdsourced system like OpenStreetMap never could have put together a global mapping product as quickly as Google did, over time it has become a serious competitor in terms of both quality and convenience."

11 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Danger Google by GeneralTurgidson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If this and DuckDuckGo start gaining momentum google may find itself in Altavista's shoes.

    1. Re:Danger Google by TeXMaster · · Score: 5, Informative

      I would like to use DDG too, but the only thing it has which is useful (at least as of now) is the zero-click info-box. The actual search results are quite horrible compared to what Google provides (probably because DDG relies essentially on Bing, which is having huge problems keeping their database in good shape).

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      "I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart" (Linus van Pelt)
    2. Re:Danger Google by Sique · · Score: 5, Insightful

      With rare exception, software projects end up half assed, 90% feature complete, and skip implementation of anything difficult. The "it's good enough" approach.

      There. Fixed thad for you.

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      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    3. Re:Danger Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Stop fixing it... it's already good enough.

  2. Who pays for the tile servers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Acquiring the data isn't the only cost. Serving tiles to millions of clients each day can't be cheap. Who pays for that, if there aren't any ads and the service is free to use?

    1. Re:Who pays for the tile servers? by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tile_usage_policy

      (if you make an app you should mirror the stuff to your own servers.. there's couple of links to services providing tiles based on osm data there)

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Who pays for the tile servers? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, one of the main reasons that I use an OSM app on my phone instead of the Google Maps one (aside from the fact I don't need a corporate stalker) is that it isn't serving tiles to me. I just grab the data once and store it on my phone. That means I can use the maps with my phone's GPS when I'm out of signal range (or somewhere with only GPRS signals, where using Google Maps is a bit painful) or when I'm in a different country and the data roaming charges would make it stupidly expensive.

      The OSM data is licensed in a way that allows redistribution and the project actively encourages people to do this. Clients are allowed to aggressively cache or mirror the data, something which Google or Bing maps do not allow.

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    3. Re:Who pays for the tile servers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      You can cache maps using Google Maps on Android devices. I've cached the whole area around where I live and can use GPS with it without any Internet connection.

      To cache a map area click somewhere on the map, then click the little arrow on the right that shows more detail, then at the bottom you should see a button labelled "pre-cache map data".

      However, the OSM maps are far far better in my area though, which is reason enough to use them over Google Maps.

  3. Superior for trails by dargaud · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In my country there are very good 1:25000 maps, but the trails in the wooded areas can be off by hundreds of meters because they we mapped before the time of the GPSs and there's no way to use a theodolite acurately on a forest trail. Come the GPS: I take a track, clean it up a bit, upload it to OSM and the trail is now a lot more accurate than the best maps available...

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    Non-Linux Penguins ?
  4. anti-customer decision? by AngryDeuce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Last time I checked, maps is still free for people to use, they're just charging for commercial use, but that makes perfect sense. If you're a business, I can't see why you'd be complaining about having to pay a little something that makes it easier for your customers to find you. Nobody is forcing you to use Maps. Go ahead and switch if the expense is too much for you. As TFS states, there are other alternatives.

    Hooray for the free market!

  5. Personally by LiroXIV · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think this is more of an ideological move. Google Maps is not free content like Wikipedia itself. OpenStreetMap however, shares many of the same values as Wikipedia itself; such as its use of an environment that encourages contribution by others, the use of licensing that encourages the sharing and rebuilding of content instead of forbidding it, and so on.