Comment by maxerickson
5 years ago
It's a reasonable word for the many interpretive choices that go into translating data into a map. What to include, when to show it, etc.
5 years ago
It's a reasonable word for the many interpretive choices that go into translating data into a map. What to include, when to show it, etc.
I realize it's no small feat to take the firehose of data you get from OSM and turn it into something usable. Other apps like OsmAnd have several presets and lots of knobs you can tweak to (hopefully) display the map exactly as you want it, but most users are too lazy for that, so there is definitely a niche for an app using a single algorithm that fits most use cases...
...but "curated with love by MAPS.ME founders", with "OpenStreetMap data" right before it, definitely sounds like some kind of manual process is involved - because that's what a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curator does, and that's usually a real person, not an algorithm. So, if it's an algorithm, the text is misleading.
But it isn't "an algorithm", it's hundreds or thousands of decisions about how to interpret data.
For instance, https://cycle.travel uses different rules to interpret data in different countries, because between differences in mapping practices, differences in infrastructure and differences in laws, you need to do that to have a good experience.
Ok, then it's a complicated algorithm, "lovingly hand-tuned" to give optimal results despite of inconsistencies in the data. I'm beginning to understand what they mean - but "curated" still sounds off to me...
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> But it isn't "an algorithm", it's hundreds or thousands of decisions about how to interpret data.
Map style can be described as an algorithm, but it is a human made one so curation definitely is present.