Google Map Upgrade

[pehayes]

Why oh why did Google upgrade the map services.  New version SUCKS.
If you're desperate, you can use this link to the old maps for now:

https://maps.google.com/maps?output=classi

Eventually it will also go away.  Who cares what the end user thinks.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[O]

Agreed.  I've spent over ten years updating medical software for hospitals, so I don't exactly fear change, as long as the new enhancements warrant it.  Google likes to change things just for the sake of change, with no discernible improvements added.  They think nothing of adding extra clicks for their users, which isn't an intuitively winning strategy.  Since they made over $17 billion last quarter though, I doubt they're going to listen to my "keep it simple" requests.

[canuguzzi]

Google maps was designed to eventually become a big part of their revenue stream which is one reason why the off-line functionality is very limited (no route planning and limited search). Without a constant data connection (data connection=money) Google maps doesn't do all that much. They canned Latitude and stuffed that into Google+, another effort to monetize one of the best map centric apps they had.

Ahead, look for a lot of push notifications with Google Maps so that as you travel any business you've ever done business with will push something to you via Google Maps. Like Google search, you will not be able to turn off those notifications, only decide if they will be "selected" for you based on your search and business relationships or be randomized.

"In 500 feet, make a right turn...are you hungry? Pizza Hut is along your travel route, get a 5% discount, tap for your coupon code."

[nunzio]

Why oh why did Google upgrade the map services.  New version SUCKS.
If you're desperate, you can use this link to the old maps for now:

https://maps.google.com/maps?output=classi

Eventually it will also go away.  Who cares what the end user thinks.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

They do care what the end user thinks.

You are not the end user !!!

If it's "free"....YOU..... are the product......Alan

[NC Steve]

Why oh why did Google upgrade the map services.  New version SUCKS.
If you're desperate, you can use this link to the old maps for now:

https://maps.google.com/maps?output=classi

Eventually it will also go away.  Who cares what the end user thinks.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

So I'm not the only one that thinks the new Google maps is pure crap, huh? I'd been led to believe by others that if i clicked my heels 3 times and turned in circles, the new Maps would work just fine, and I should quit bitchin' about it.

Thanks a lot for the link, Patrick. For several months Google let us continue to use their "Classic" maps if selected, but that was recently taken away. At least we have a back way in for now!

[NC Steve]

Well hell. I used the new/old link to pull up the back roads routes to the Antique Motorcycle Club Meet this weekend, and my printer's out of ink. I think I can read these washed out pages though...

http://www.amcasouthernnationalmeet.com/

[Chuck in Indiana]

A guy tried to get to our place to pick up Rosie last weekend using Google maps. He asked how long that road south of us had been closed.  ;D Told him that you used to be able to ford the river there back in the 40s.. ;D but Google still shows it as a road.

[Guido Valvole]

Back in the days of paper maps, map makers would often add a nonexistent feature (small road or landmark or whatever) to their maps in order to detect obvious counterfeiting/plagiarism. There's a name for that which I'm forgetting… No reason it can't be or isn't done digitally. Never believe a map completely.
cr

[ratguzzi]

sign the petition to return classic google maps.

https://www.change.org/p/larry-page-ceo-google-tell-google-bring-back-classic-google-maps

I always hated Bing maps but it works more like the classic google maps now.

https://www.bing.com/maps/

JB

[rocker59]

A guy tried to get to our place to pick up Rosie last weekend using Google maps. He asked how long that road south of us had been closed.  ;D Told him that you used to be able to ford the river there back in the 40s.. ;D but Google still shows it as a road.

Google maps routed me across a farm last fall.  Pretty funny, but could've been a mess.  At one point I came to a closed gate and if it had been locked, I'd have had to back the horse trailer a quarter-mile down a narrow bumpy road with barbed wire fence on both sides..

Luckily the gate was unlocked, and the route did save me a few miles.  I really shouldn't have taken that last turn.  I knew better, but was in a "what the hell" mood. 

 :D

[Wayne Orwig]

A guy tried to get to our place to pick up Rosie last weekend using Google maps. He asked how long that road south of us had been closed.  ;D Told him that you used to be able to ford the river there back in the 40s.. ;D but Google still shows it as a road.

When I'm on the Stelvio riding through yet another mud hole and the wife from the back yells 'THIS IS NOT A ROAD', I just point out that it is on the GPS, it must be a road.
 :wife:

And now I'm doing a lot of OSM map editing, so I can create my own dirt path and call it a highway.  ~;

I always knew that I was the product, not the customer, to Google. But when they shut down Latitude last year, and disabled or shut down similar map features on what was basically the best map engine around, I know they have other ways in mind of make a profit from us.
When they moved me over to the new maps last month, I lost a number for maps that I had. Luckily, I had saved the important ones off to my PC to back up.
If you have any work on such online services, don't trust them to be there. Save your maps off as a GPX or such to your personal storage.

[geodoc]

Old Google maps:

https://www.google.com/lochp

[Rich A]

It sure ain't perfect. Google maps will try to route you through an Air Force base in Albuquerque--the guards at the gate are not amused.

Rich A

[Triple Jim]

A few years ago I found a mistake in the roads in the town near me.  I emailed Mapquest and explained the error, and the correct roads.  I got a reply that said I needed to contact the higher-up company that maintains the maps, which is the company that Mapquest buys the mapping service from.  I replied to that email and said that I'm the user of Mapquest's product, I was spending time and effort to report a mistake, and Mapquest could do whatever they liked with my information, but I was done.  If they've fixed the mistake, it was only recently.  My conclusion is that they really weren't concerned with a few mistakes, as long as they have a lot of users.

[johnr]

the story of my life really. As soon as I find a product or service that I like it get changed into something I don't  or taken away.  Imageshack did that to me too, and I lost a lot of pics.

[Wayne Orwig]

A few years ago I found a mistake in the roads in the town near me.  I emailed Mapquest and explained the error, and the correct roads.  I got a reply that said I needed to contact the higher-up company that maintains the maps, which is the company that Mapquest buys the mapping service from.  I replied to that email and said that I'm the user of Mapquest's product, I was spending time and effort to report a mistake, and Mapquest could do whatever they liked with my information, but I was done.  If they've fixed the mistake, it was only recently.  My conclusion is that they really weren't concerned with a few mistakes, as long as they have a lot of users.

I reported and had corrected a couple of Google map mistakes.
I had a CoPilot map fixed.
I've spent a lot of hours correcting OSM maps.