tech

With grid now crowdsourced, digital maps can steer you wrong

5 Comments
By RYAN NAKASHIMA

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Has anyone else found Google maps will often send you in the wrong direction or round in circles? I don't know if it is just me, my phone's GPS and compass or Google. What map programme works best in Japan?

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Open source maps are the future. I prefer that having monolopy companies have control. With a monopoly company no one has control. So with maps they can high light one buisness while hiding another. Sure with open source people can put false information but we police it rather than some company whose motivations are only money. I swear by open source maps. I use them on my motorcycle GPS. Japan is one of those countries with such a monopoly on GPS maps. The have forbidden any non Japanese gps device from using maps of Japan. No Tom tom. No Garmin. You have to buy in Japan from japan. (Garmin does sell one model, but only though Garmin Japan and it's been discontinued outside Japan for 3 years and costs 3x the price of newer Garmin modles in the west).

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Quite often i get text messages asking me to comment on my visit to a restraunt or some other place. Places that i drove past on my way to somewhere.

I use google maps in satalite view so i can see the roads around where i am. Then i plan my route.

Print out the route and mark the rout. Also using street view print out land marks like a church, bank, so i would know when i was close to a turning that i needed to take.

Google map on the phone was handy when there was diversions.

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Uh... Azzprin, you need to use a spelling checker. I think you meant "Satellite" view, rather than "satalite" (unless you're referring to some light weight seating position :).

Here in Japan, there aren't really that many Churches, (as there are back in the Province), for navigating with, but you're right on using notable landmarks, which is where Google maps does come into play, but yes it's always helpful to plan your journey in advance rather than simply relying upon SatNav which has, for some, ended up with some cracker issues:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8461289/Sat-nav-the-top-ten-worst-Sat-nav-blunders.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/2775657/16-mind-boggling-sat-nav-fails/

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There, a user made more than 80 anti-Semitic label changes in a "tirade" across New York and other places in early August; records of those changes show the anonymous user also abusively renamed London streets and dubbed Russia "Commieland."

It's amazing how people can co-opt maps now to get across their hateful messages of antisemitism, racism and sectarianism.

Desperate stuff.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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