Comment by ericfr11
2 years ago
The ex-Googler is most likely talking about the product as a whole, across the globe. It would be hard to justify features dedicated to a small group of users overall (with different goals/expectations), especially while keeping privacy (and data sharing). That being said, Google maps works great for cyclists in the US ...
It's maddening that tens of millions of users is "give up and do something else" territory for Google.
Yes, it’s also maddening for most Googlers who are passionate about the work they want to do that would affect just tens of millions (or less).
But at least it leaves room for other companies in some situations. What’s really sad is when there’s something that could only be done by Apple or Google, but it’s too small for either of them to actually do it.
Problem is those companies are like Nest, who made good products with love and then sold themselves to Google who then turned most Nest products into bargain-basement offerings with half the features. So the only real fix is FOSS, since everything else can be bought and killed. (FOSS can be too, but it's harder.)
Supporting sustainability, also a job for someone else. We are so lucky OSM exist, helping to perhaps save the cities and the planet.