
Bing Maps Streetside Imagery Now Integrated into OpenStreetMap iD Editor - wangyjx
https://blogs.bing.com/maps/2018-06/bing-maps-streetside-imagery-now-integrated-into-openstreetmap-id-editor
======
beefsack
Regardless of the motivations behind doing this (cynics could easily suggest
it is a direct attack on Google Maps) this is great news for both OSM and the
broader mapping ecosystem.

The data OSM provides is immensely valuable and enables some really empowering
applications.

~~~
ggg9990
Of course it’s an attack on Google Maps, and that’s a good thing. People
should be happy to have Microsoft’s help in fighting Google because Google is
much scarier than Microsoft these days.

~~~
partiallypro
Google is scarier than Microsoft was even in its peak. Google controls most of
the world's information, can shape thoughts with search algorithms, can
destroy businesses (including competitors) with changes in ad policies, bid
processes and search algorithms. Microsoft at its peak could threaten
suppliers and some competitors...Google can practically destroy any
company/person in any vertical if it so chose.

~~~
49bc
> _Google can practically destroy any company /person in any vertical if it so
> chose._

Yet they don't. So either they're not as scary as "Microsoft was even at its
peak", or maybe they're not as powerful as you make them out to be.

~~~
vezycash
The key difference btw Google and Microsoft is this:

If MS harmed you, you'd know. If Google intends to harm you, it looks like a
stroke of bad luck.

All they have to do is hide the tree (you the person they intend to harm)
within the forest (thousands of other sites/businesses) affected by the same
policy change.

You could go months without finding out. And if you ever do, it's extremely
difficult to prove foul play.

------
simula67
Good news. These types of data intensive apps ( Google search, Google Maps etc
) are one of the greatest threats to the open web because they make it very
painful to switch to an alternate provider. Keeping this type of data open (
along with open data interchange formats ) could improve competition in
service providers

~~~
sidr
It's actually trivially easy to switch from Google search and maps, just type
in a different URL or change a setting on your browser. It's only "hard"
because the alternatives are just not as good. The fact the the alternatives
have to work so hard to stay competitive might suggest that open data
intensive apps just aren't as good of a model for delivering quality content.
We've seen this play out before with the iOS and Mac OS X hatred before tech
folks turned from hating MS to Apple to now, Google/FB.

------
iancarroll
This title seems inaccurate. The article makes it sound like the data is just
retrieved, from Microsoft, when using a specific editor. OSM doesn’t actually
have the data nor are they are distributing it.

~~~
steve19
Yes, I don't believe they are licensing the data.

(edit: my mistake, there is a license of sorts, see the comment below)

~~~
maxerickson
It's a narrow license, allowing the imagery to be used to verify information
being added to OSM:

[https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/pull/5050#issuecomment-3...](https://github.com/openstreetmap/iD/pull/5050#issuecomment-397102559)

Question 3 is the interesting part giving some examples of how they expect it
to be used and an example of how it shouldn't be used.

------
seibelj
Microsoft continues to make me want to like them, it’s strange

~~~
chii
> it’s strange

it's not. They've lost their dominant position (mind-share wise at least) and
is clamouring to get it back. Google, on the other hand, has gained a dominant
position, and got complacent lately; and people are starting to lose faith in
them.

But in the end, the goal is to ensure they have good PR.

------
api_or_ipa
Is this just a case of this uneasy friendliness that MS has had recently
toward the open ecosystem, or is MS trying to play a big-league game to combat
Google Map's dominance?

~~~
maxerickson
Microsoft gave OSM permission to use their aerial imagery for tracing in
November 2010. If you look at this as a continuation of that it isn't terribly
recent.

------
sidcool
Although the only reason MS is doing this to undermine Google, it's a win for
open source. Competition helps.

------
afeezaziz
I am operating a fleet of vehicles that have multiple cameras on them.

I would like to contribute to an open source community that can have work with
OSM, freely. Is there an option for this? Other than mapillary.

~~~
maxerickson
There's OpenStreetCam, but it isn't a whole lot different than Mapillary.

I think it will be a while before there is a community project accepting many
gigabytes of photos every day.

~~~
ris
Many years ago (before the advent of OpenStreetCam or Mapillary) I proposed a
federated scheme where various entities could obtain their own dirt-cheap http
hosting (backblaze?) and simply submit indexes (or make available in an easily
discoverable fashion) of the image metadata for centralized tools to pull
together, but this was dismissed as lunacy.

I still don't think it would be too tricky to do and would nicely decouple the
fundamental storage/hosting problem from all the other problems that might
need solving.

What I thought was particularly interesting was how EXIF data tends to be near
the beginning of a JFIF file which could allow "cheap" bulk scanning of jpeg
metadata by using http 1.1 ranges.... who knows.

------
gasull
Is there a good Android app using OSM that will give me public transportation
directions in the main cities of the world?

Until them I'm stuck with Google Maps.

~~~
Piskvorrr
I _think_ Maps.Me did something in that direction - but well, the quality of
the underlying data varies wildly. Google can (and IMHO does) periodically pay
for licensing the transport data, OSM doesn't do that (for cost and license
compatibility, amongst other things). Not all PT authorities are amenable to
open data :(

~~~
PkBuzios
They are starting. You can get routing for Underground in some cities. But if
you check OSM there is a lot of data. I think that all what is missing is a
algorithm to make the routing.

~~~
Piskvorrr
As an OSM contributor, I beg to differ. "Just an algorithm" needs to take into
account all the different ways in which the data is input, guess at possible
transfers (again, stops might be mapped, but are they reachable from each
other?), and that's before we get to the issue of stale data (infrastructure
might be mapped, but the line numbering and routing changes at a moment's
notice).

So yeah, it looks easy at first glance.

------
bprasanna
Commitment to make things right, seems to be on track for Microsoft! Great
going

~~~
Piskvorrr
It does seem genuine...but the fear of another SCO-like submarine lingers.

------
shmerl
That's really nice!

