How do I know which maps are loaded?

To see which maps are loaded, look at your the Settings > Maps menu to see which maps are loaded. Make sure the map(s) you want are enabled ( green check mark ). If the maps listed do not overlap coverage area, you can have all enabled all the time.

How can I test the map?

You can test the map by putting the GPS in demo/simulation mode. Then you will want to set your location to where you want to pretend you located. Do this by browsing the map and then tap the SET LOC button. You should then see the little car or arrow showing at the new location. From here you can search local points of interest and even test drive a route.

More detail about the procedure on my FAQ page and I have a YouTube video embedded on my Training page.

State of the Map Logo

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The State of the Map is… at the tipping point.

“Tipping point” – meaning poised to tip or on the brink of tipping – is a term I heard repeated several times at the State of the (Open Street) Map conference in Denver. A narrow interpretation of the tipping point is that tipping_over means that the entire world embraces Open Street Map as the de-facto map of the world. And not_tipping means that the world is not convinced that Open Street Maps are useful. In this article, I present a wider interpretation of the tipping point.

Open Street Map Logo

For those of you not yet familiar yet with Open Street Map (OSM), Here is a brief explanation: It is a collaborative map made up from individual user contributions now at a scale considered “crowd-sourced”. It is also known as the Wiki of maps, which is true to the extent that I will explain later. The big idea is that I’ll map my neighborhood, and you map your neighborhood, and together we’ll make a map of the entire world. It is a great idea! And after 7 years of development, it is a reality.

So are the maps useful? It’s what all those on the outside, looking in want to know. The answer is yes! but not because the map complete. The map in some places is more complete than commercial maps, but more importantly OSM is organized to make the map more complete in all places. So my wider interpretation of “the state of the map is at the tipping point” includes the map development process rather than a simple assessment of how many geographic features are shown on the map.

Process is important. Just ask the commercial mapping companies who spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year updating their maps. Compare that to OSM which is updated for free, by hundreds of thousands of contributors. If I heard it once in Denver, I heard it many times, “the economics of developing and updating map data are falling apart.” It is no wonder commercial interests are taking notice of OSM, which is more evidence that the state of the map is tipping_over.

Just look at who sponsored the conference. Bing (Microsoft) , MapQuest (AOL), and ESRI (another big mapping software company) among others contributed $$$$ to help put on the conference. In exchange, these companies made presentations, sat in on panel discussions, and promoted themselves like at a trade show.

More than just conference sponsors, Bing, MapQuest and ESRI have been helping the map community in other ways. Bing is providing satellite imagery to aid in creating maps, ESRI is providing tools for editing, and MapQuest provides driving directions based on Open Street Maps. These big companies recognize Open Street Maps as a resource to build value on. Their willingness to help the community of mappers is evidence of a symbiotic relationship between commercial interests and OSM, which is yet another reason I will say the state of the map is tipping_over.

Who are these “mappers” (as they call themselves) and what motivates them to make a free map of the world? Based on comments at the conference as to ways mappers “are making a difference and changing the world”, here are results of a poll taken at the map_authors discussion group, which ranks the reasons mappers map:

• 29% Passionate about recreational activites (ie. Hiking, biking, etc) and want to share routes and trails.
• 25% Fill a void in existing map data, like in underdeveloped countries or make freely available map data is otherwise restricted or controlled by the government.
• 21% Contribute to developing free maps, thwarting companies that charge for maps.
• 12% Outlet for creativity (especially since OSM mappers see results almost immediately).
• 7% Opportunity for collaboration, social networking and friendly competition.
• 3% Humanitarianism. The Haiti project is a good example (hot.openstreetmap.org )

Considering these motivations, every place in the world can benefit from open street maps. Momentum in these areas of contribution is building (see graphs of contribution rates here). And momentum is another reason I will say the state of the map is tipping_over.

The conference in Denver highlighted several applications and projects. Open Street Map enthusiasts are navigating in Berlin, London, and Denver with OSM-enabled mobile applications, like Skobbler; being guided to tourist attractions with travel guides featuring offline OSM maps, like Ulmon’s City Guides 2Go; and getting interactive with live OSM point-of-interest information, with apps like Faster Imaging’s NearBy series. In addition to travel and tourism applications, the conference highlighted humanitarian projects which have benefited from OSM mapping, including those in Haiti and Japan. In fact, it was said at the conference that the Google map of Japan is viewed as “historical” in comparison to the Open Street Map which has been updated following the tsunami. When I consider that programs using OSM are accessing the most up-to-date location information available, dare I say that OSM is past the tipping point?

What is holding back OSM? Trust. The maps look great and as mentioned previously, OSM in some places has more detail than commercial maps, but the primary reason users do not trust the map is that anyone can make changes. Going back to the analogy that OSM is the Wiki of maps, it is a good comparison except that if you mess up the Wikipedia entry for Paul Revere, you won’t affect the entry for the Old North Church. In OSM, if you move an intersection of roads, you affect the both roads. Detecting errors and dealing with offending members of the mapping community is the responsibility of the mapping community. While most errors created in the map are not malicious, this purely democratic process is slow and there is no means of quickly reverting to previous version of the map to repair to vandalism. So, when you download a snapshot of the map “you get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit” as my mother would say. What do you expect? It’s a free map for crying out loud! But keeping to my point, lack of trust is keeping the world – commercial interests included – from accepting OSM as the de facto map of the world.

Granted, it is not the mission of OSM to create ready-made maps commercial enterprise. However, the mapping community does benefit from close relationships with the business community. Examples of this symbiotic relationship were presented above and more opportunities exist.

Commercial mapping companies have map data sources and development tools that, if incorporated in OSM, could significantly improve user trust. At the conference, I spoke with representatives of several companies who could offer map development resources, like map data testing and validation tools, but they hesitate because there are no clear means for corporate entities to give and get credit for their efforts.

So, the State of the Map is at the tipping-point. The OSM organization offers a process by which individual contributions make for a highly detailed and up-to-date map of the world. The only thing holding it back as the de facto standard is a democratic mapping community that has little motivation to help commercial enterprise.

My gut feeling is that commercial interest taking extracts from the free and open street map will find ways to avoid bad karma by giving back to the community of mappers. Contact me if you would like a few ideas.

- Doug Adomatis
Owner, TravelByGPS.com

Garmin Nuvi 40

I recommend the Garmin nüvi 40 as the best basic GPS to buy when you plan to add maps and use in another country. Garmin markets the nuvi 40 as “affordable” and to keep the price low they only include maps of the USA, which is OK if you plan to add the maps you need. For example, a lot of people ask where they can buy a GPS for Costa Rica. If they don’t already have a Garmin, I suggest they buy the nuvi 40 with the GPS Map of Costa Rica on microSD/SD-memory card. GPS maps of other countries are available, which you can find here at Amazon: GPS Map of Panama, GPS Road Map of Japan, and GPS Map of Central America.
I hope this helps!
- Doug…
…the GPS map guy.