On 04/10/2019 01:52, nd...@redhazel.co.uk wrote:
This may not be a perfect solution but the information CPO/ONSPD contains is still extremely useful for geocoding. Search for a postcode and you are _guaranteed_ to get an address in a close vicinity to a place you are looking for. How about not needing to start Google Maps when searching for a location on the go?
I entirely agree with this. You can search for any postcode on Google Maps, Bing Maps, Here Maps and Michelin Maps, to name just the ones I've checked right now. The reality is that people expect postcodes to be a functional search term on online mapping, at least in the UK, and not having it places OSM at a distinct disadvantage compared to the commercial mapping operators. Given that postcode data is itself available under a compatible licence, refusing to use it because of purist notions of what a map should be is, in my opinion, simply a case of cutting off our noses to spite our face. It's important that OSM gives users what they want from a map, not just what mapping geeks want from a map. And users want postcodes - all of them - to be a functional search term.
In fact, OSM can easily do better than Google et al when it comes to postcodes. One of their biggest faults is the lag on adding new postcodes - it can take up to 18 months before new postcodes become usable search terms on Google Maps. With an automated import, OSM can be as up to date as the latest release of CPO/ONSPD. And that's a positive selling point for our data.
Mark _______________________________________________ Talk-GB mailing list Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
