January 12, 2006

NPR slams Google Maps, mapquest and others.. gimme a break!

In yet another humorous article about Google's poor maps - actually guys, the data provided to Google, mapquest, MSN, and others are licensed from data providers like Navteq and Tele Atlas. Nobody ever claims that these data are perfect and they are frequently updated based on user feedback and regular QC by the vendors. To say that "google's maps are inaccurate" is ridiculous... Google serves up the data, they don't create it or own it. About NPR, they have made a mountain out of a molehill because one specific directions exercise led them on a sidewalk rather than a road.. sure, there's problems with the data but these are small quirks in the data that will be sorted out. Typically some local knowledge is always good to have when you interpret directions that are provided to you via web services.. gee, one dude on a news list actually suggested a class action lawsuit because of this.. my lord.. based on what?? LOL - See story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5140674

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