For what it's worth I also think it's very important to have a prominent map on the front page and I believe this whole debate just highlights the fact that OSM is not ready for mainstream and remains a geeky subculture.
There seems to be a duality of identity here. On one hand, some are saying lets make it more accessible and friendly to "ordinary people". On the other hand, some appear embarrassed by the prominence of maps to represent what our community is all about, and they want to retain a geeky "we are not a map, we are a database" ideology. The two goals are completely incompatible because "ordinary people" expect OSM to be all about maps. In fact, I was drawn into the project on the premise that OSM is "the Wikipedia of maps", and I found it an exciting prospect to contribute to such a great idea. Well... you go over to Wikipedia and the first thing you see is the front page of an encyclopedia, ready to be searched and used as such. You know there's no bells and whistles, and thats a good thing. You're attracted by the clean commercial-free environment, and you have confidence that the information in Wikipedia has been lovingly provided by contributors who want to leave their legacy to the world by sharing their knowledge and expertise, and rigorously reviewed and checked by other contributors. You don't hear Wikipedia trumpeting "we are not an encyclopedia, we are a database of information." No... they scream from the mountain tops "we are the world's encyclopedia", and absolutely relish in it. Why can't OSM be also scream from a nearby mountain top, "we are the world's map".... I mean, what's so embarrassing about providing a good, comprehensive, accessible map? It's an accomplishment of which we should all be proud, not hide away. Yes we don't have gimmicks like street view and satellite view. So too Wikipedia lacks rich multimedia content. It's simple, clean, fast, comprehensive, accurate - and yet very very successful. Again, what is embarrassing about a map? I really do hope OSM finds its way through this quagmire of identity and eventually becomes the world's map, widely used, integrated, and quoted in all kinds of spheres. That's my vision. BJ On 29/12/2011, at 9:09, "Barnett, Phillip" <phillip.barn...@itn.co.uk> wrote: > Well yes, but instead you've got a very conspicuous link saying 'Where's the > map? .. here it is." > > And also four other obvious maps below that even! > > > > PHILLIP BARNETT > SERVER MANAGER > > 200 GRAY'S INN ROAD > LONDON > WC1X 8XZ > UNITED KINGDOM > T +44 (0)20 7430 4474 > F > E phillip.barn...@itn.co.uk > WWW.ITN.CO.UK > Please consider the environment. Do you really need to print this email? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Frederik Ramm [mailto:frede...@remote.org] > Sent: 28 December 2011 21:51 > To: Thomas Davie > Cc: talk@openstreetmap.org > Subject: Re: [OSM-talk] Things People Say > > Hi, > > On 12/28/2011 10:41 PM, Thomas Davie wrote: > > This is a lot better though than "Can you believe it, OpenStreetMap doesn't > > even have an open street map on their home page!". > > We've been using http://www.openstreetmap.de/ in its current form for 6 > weeks now. I'll let you know when someone complains that it has no map. > (The earlier version did have an OpenLayers map on the front page but > using only about 1/3 of screen real estate.) > > Bye > Frederik > > -- > Frederik Ramm ## eMail frede...@remote.org ## N49°00'09" E008°23'33" > > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@openstreetmap.org > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk > > Please Note: > > Any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily > represent those of Independent Television News Limited unless specifically > stated. This email and any files attached are confidential and intended > solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. > If you have received this email in error, please notify postmas...@itn.co.uk > > Please note that to ensure regulatory compliance and for the protection of > our clients and business, we may monitor and read messages sent to and from > our systems. > > Thank You. > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@openstreetmap.org > http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
_______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
