OpenStreetMap
I would like to ask you all to help disect this article :
http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/02/can-a-crowd-get-me-from-a-to-b/
""So what does this leave us? Open-source mapmaking can’t exist without professional maps to build on. We can’t assume accuracy will emerge from the collective, an important point given the fact that accuracy is a bit more important in a map then in, say, a Wikipedia entry on the latest “Family Guy” episode""
Discussion
Comment from imroy on 3 February 2010 at 01:25
Were the comments always closed on that post? I wonder what sort of responses this idiot got.
It's just a scare piece from a Washington lobbying group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Alliance
Comment from JohnSmith on 3 February 2010 at 02:12
@imroy I doubt comments were ever opened.
@h4ck3rm1k3 I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's a fluff piece to down play the importance and ability to create map data, similar arguments have been used to downplay the ability to create crowd sourced encycolpedia articles.
"First They Ignore You, Then They Ridicule You, Then They Fight You"
OpenStreetMap seems to have TomTom scared into releasing data more often, which is a claim most often made as to why OSM is better, so not much needs to be said in response.
Comment from !i! on 3 February 2010 at 07:36
I agree with JohnSmith, Gandhi was right :)
'the world belongs to us' by Informatik
Comment from h4ck3rm1k3 on 3 February 2010 at 09:11
I have registered here and posted a comment that he should open up his article to comments :
http://www.copyrightalliance.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=50
Comment from h4ck3rm1k3 on 3 February 2010 at 12:16
Here is some details about the author, If he does not want comments,
we can send him a letter.
The author :
Patrick A Ross :
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/patrick-ross/3/a3/732
Is a lobbist also for the microsoft spin off expedia :
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/LobbyistPublicSearch/CompleteDisclosure.aspx?PeriodId=20081&RefId=1558
Here is his blog :
http://patrickross.typepad.com/
We should send him some comments.
mike
Comment from davespod on 3 February 2010 at 13:37
Hidden in the depth of this there are one or two salient points, but they are drowned out by the rest of the drivel. Missed the point in so many ways, so many false assumptions, so many spurious comparisons, just so many "facts" that are plain wrong, it really would be hard to respond to! Really would not know where to start.
The fact that comments are closed says it all, really. Quite good for a laugh, though (at him, not with him).
Comment from marscot on 3 February 2010 at 14:28
Its goes on a bit. lots of facts are wrong,
Comment from Former OSM contributor on 3 February 2010 at 20:34
Mmmm! Methinks, he thinks we take a sketchpad and a pencil to best estimate the routes we map!
What came across most strongly was a feeling he'd taken a cursory look at openstreetmaps and failed to understand what it is about. He talks as if the whole thing once committed to the web is set in stone.
Perhaps as mike above points out has relevance? "Is a lobbist also for the microsoft spin off expedia" The only point he is slightly correct on is a vague reference to the great open spaces which I deem he was referring to gaps in the maps that are being gradually filled. Or, did I mistakenly read far too much into his monologue?
Comment from jsmart09 on 4 February 2010 at 02:21
Noone needs to blast anyone. Don't worry about it. Use your energy for editing.
Comment from Canley on 4 February 2010 at 04:10
There will always be people who think crowd-sourcing or open-source projects are completely incapable of producing accurate, up-to-date or "complete" datasets/software because they have no understanding of the motivation, methodology or altruism behind such projects. Mr Ross seems to think all we do is plot lampposts, benches and bins on existing maps (and that Wikipedia is just "Family Guy" or "Pokemon" trivia). That's OK, let them pay thousands of dollars for their "professional" map updates, or have licences pulled out from under them a la Nav4All - blasting rebuttals at these people won't convince them, but making the OSM dataset the most cost-effective and comprehensive one available will make it unavoidable as a viable option from both a business and consumer standpoint.
Comment from Pieren on 4 February 2010 at 15:56
Currently "Executive Director at Copyright Alliance". Everything is said. Probably a former lobbyist of MS Encarta.