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comment by elizabeth
elizabeth  ·  3677 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why the World Needs OpenStreetMap

It's a great idea.

I've never heard of OSM before, so I checked it out really fast. Honestly, it's not as bad as I though it would be. The map seems relatively easy to edit but they probably should focus on making the map easy to USE. I use google maps mainly to find directions to places, so while I'm sure it is possible to do with OSM, making it easy to find and use would be a great plus. Adding bus/train/metro schedules would be great too. And while I appreciate the fact they do the map in the language spoken in the country, it might be nice to add an english version so I can look for Moscow without needing to know Cyrillic.

Yeah, many many flaws but crowdsourcing is powerfull so there is hope...





veen  ·  3677 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Yeah, many many flaws but crowdsourcing is powerfull so there is hope...

I think crowdsourcing is only effective when it has a strong goal, one that can be explained easily. Often, this means that a small group of admins / mods needs to lay down the foundation to make sure the crowd can easily contribute something worthwhile. It's the very reason why the OSM has focused its attention to making it as easy as possible for people to edit their maps.