Google Maps
Anyone who knows me a little bit, knows that I am a bit of a map lover (neither cartophile nor chartophile are in the OED). Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE maps. So I am pretty much a fan of the google maps. I have been using it for years (MapQuest before that) and have generally come to trust it. In particular it’s directions tend to be superb. So Imagine my surprise when I was plotting a trip to Indy and the address that I was supposed to be going to didn’t exist. Somewhat humorously the satellite imagery is more recent than their map data:
It’s not the missing roads that bother me so much as the missing connectivity. I can go straight up Woodland, I don’t need to go up Zionville. I guess NavTeq needs more employees in Indianapolis. Fortunately for my work, county boundaries don’t change that often.
Tele Atlas has the roads, by the way, even though Navteq doesn’t.
The Google aerial photos for Indianapolis used to be awful — really bad resolution for some parts, covered with clouds in other parts. They improved immensely a few months ago.
I’ve been finding myself using Yahoo Maps far more often than Google Maps lately. I often find addresses that Google Maps doesn’t know how to interpret or simply can’t find (no examples offhand, sorry), while Yahoo Maps has had many fewer such problems. In addition, the satellite coverage in Yahoo Maps is better than in Google Maps (zoom in on the eastern half of Sun Prairie, WI, for example). When I care about the answers, I have been using Yahoo Maps much more, even though I like the interface less.
Maybe my experience is too shallow to say that Google Maps is better: I haven’t done an extensive review. That said, my experience has been better with Yahoo Maps.
As crazy as this may sound, I prefer the maps at Microsoft Live (http://local.live.com/). I haven’t found a problem with a map, but the satellite pictures are often out of date. And like Google, the resolution in rural areas in often poor.
On a side note, have you noticed that you can get high resolution maps of Afganistan? It’s a benefit of the military’s search for Bin Laden. Check out page 48 of the March issue of Wired.
My personal bet is that it is really location specific on the data source. Not only that, but since all these data source companies are always updating their info, it seems likely that if one system is better for a location now, a different system might be better tomorrow when a new set of data comes online.
I find google maps never gets the addresses wrong for me, but then I am in a major metro area (Chicago). And clearly my Indy example is the counter-example. I’ll have to give Yahoo maps another try.
…which I just did. That interface rocks! They clearly just stole the google one, but they did a good job of it. I really like the addition of the search items on the left. They claim to get their data from both NavTeq and TeleAtlas, but no love on the Indy roads… I wonder how they mix the data?
Heh, I hadn’t seen that about Afghanistan. Also, Hi Bill! I didn’t know that you still read this. Good to see you around.
The Yahoo! Maps interface is all done in flash. Google is an AJAX or die place. There’s been plenty of ’stealing’ from both sides (the thumbnail map in the corner appeared on the Yahoo Maps beta first if I’m not mistaking). Multi stop trips become pretty easy with the sidebar on the left. Flash kinda became what Java wanted to be - an environment to make heavy weight web apps (like video editing and stuff like that).
Just for kicks, I hit live maps - the satellite map shows a grassy field…but you gotta love the flyover view which shows the roads. Permalink: http://tinyurl.com/yp4r3s
Oh and calm down - there’s no kool-aid where I work.
Hey Josh. Sure I read your blog from time to time, but I skip over the Chicago politics.
Just for grins I looked up my address on Google, Yahoo!, and Live. They all mark the address at my neighbor’s house. I have to admit, though, that they’re all pretty cool, each having an advantage.
Yahoo! has what looks like the most recent satellite image. It’s color and resolution are nice. Google’s image has amazing resolution, I can clearly see the chimney on my house. Live has a 3-d view that’s incredible. MapQuest, BTW, looks nearly the same as Yahoo!
I use Live because I can set pushpins and it will remember them using my passport account. One thing is sure…you have to give Google kudos for pushing the technology of online mapping.
If you like maps, look at this:
http://ss2.r3g.us/rwcode/content.asp?SID=0&SiteID=15089&Section=133512&EmailID=56022780&HitID=1173293584000
Also, I have an amazing book called How To Lie With Maps. If you like maps, you owe it to yourself to read that! It’s short, clearly written, fun, and has practical application to real-life situations.
There are two quotes that I often use that this makes me think of:
“Remember that the map is not the ground” and
“All maps are historical.”
Fictional maps aren’t historical.