OS Data to be free.
PeterC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/technology/8366190.stm
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.
George
> From BBC - we'll have to wait to see if it'll be usefull:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/technology/8366190.stm
...How will that affect the cost of such things as Anquet and Memory
Map? Currently, the greater part of the cost of the digital mapping
would appear to be for licensing the maps from OS. If we are to have
free access, would these companies recoup losses by increasing the cost
element for the software? Would they still, as commercial users, have
to pay OS? In which case there needs to be a way whereby private users
can acquire the mapping data from OS to be used on commercial software.
--
George from Cartland
Roger Chapman
I suspect that somewhere in the small print is a very large snag (or
three). Postage stamp extracts at the 1:25,000 level are already
available free at get-a-map and really large scales are available at
MAGIC (multi agency government something or other), albeit no contours
(as is often the case with large scale maps) and boundaries thick and
imprecise, particularly at the 1:1250 level (which is not common with
large scale paper maps).
Maybe all we will be getting is an improved interactive map at MAGIC
which will be next to useless for a walker.
I have e-mailed the OS for clarification but I am not really expecting
anything of consequence even if they are already in a position to add to
the picture. As it is I expect them to hide behind the details will be
announced later smoke screen.
PeterC
Autoroute has stalled at 2007 and I suspect that that is due to licensing
costs - it happened a few years ago )M$ couldn't afford the fee!).
Google has already wrecked the share prices of PratNav companies by
offering software that's 'free' (some talk of ads. in it, so nothing
capable of distracting a motorist); I wonder if there was any factor of
this in the decision.
Ted
As the article implies the data is already available 'free', for non
commercial use, I use it on my web site, having 1:25000 mapping
available makes the Google version look very amateur, see:-
http://openspace.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/openspace/
I assume the maps will be free for online usage, like openspace, but
with 'subtle' advertising, and no downloads allowed. 3rd party users
will still have to pay for physical copies of the digital data, and
unfortunatly paper/laminate maps will still have to be paid for!
But I do find the prices more reasonable these days, my last 1:25000
laminate map cost c. £9.00 mail order, incuding p&p
rob
> I assume the maps will be free for online usage, like openspace, but
> with 'subtle' advertising, and no downloads allowed.
The wording in the Guardian version of the story suggests rather more than
that:
"The government is to explore ways of making all Ordnance Survey maps
freely available online from April, in a victory for the Guardian's
three-year Free Our Data campaign. The move will bring the UK into line
with the free publication of maps that exists in the US."
(More at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/17/ordnance-survey-maps-online)
In the US you can download whatever you want, the equivalent of an entire
map. Their scales are different, but I'm sure it goes to their equivalent
of 1:50k and I think 1:25k. I have an application that can use that data if
we really follow the US model. We'll have to wait and see.
--
rob
GSV Three Minds in a Can
wonderful person rob <lean...@googlemail.com> said
I eagerly await seeing .. although what we (or 'I' anyway) really need
is the digital data, vector style, for turning into something useful - a
digital copy of the paper maps, i.e. a picture, raster format, whatever
you want to call it, is useless for anything except looking at.
Oh, and the digital elevation model too, for preparing some more
accurate contour mapping for GPS users.
(try 'find little stepple' armed only with a paper map, or even a
picture thereof).
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
16,110 Km walked. 2,937 Km PROWs surveyed. 53.1% complete.
Geoff Berrow
wrote:
>As the article implies the data is already available 'free', for non
>commercial use, I use it on my web site, having 1:25000 mapping
>available makes the Google version look very amateur, see:-
>
>http://openspace.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/openspace/
Well it's the 1:25000 that is needed, that's for sure. There's a free
app for the iphone called iOSmaps which shows 1:50000 but I've notice
it exceeds tile download limits at times
--
Geoff Berrow (Put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker
Roger Chapman
snip
> I have e-mailed the OS for clarification but I am not really expecting
> anything of consequence even if they are already in a position to add to
> the picture. As it is I expect them to hide behind the details will be
> announced later smoke screen.
Got a quick reply from OS but no more than I expected. Just a reference
to the vague 17th November press release that I had already seen -
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/media/news/2009/nov2009/mappingfuture.html
Graham Seed
"GSV Three Minds in a Can" <G...@quik.clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:DOzwBpA9URBLFA$$@from.is.invalid...
> Bitstring <1ewr2vvy9fwxr$.19xgj7yk...@40tude.net>, from the
> wonderful person rob <lean...@googlemail.com> said
>>On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:34:43 -0800 (PST), Ted wrote:
>>> I assume the maps will be free for online usage, like openspace, but
>>> with 'subtle' advertising, and no downloads allowed.
>>
>>The wording in the Guardian version of the story suggests rather more than
>>that:
>>
>>"The government is to explore ways of making all Ordnance Survey maps
>>freely available online from April, in a victory for the Guardian's
>>three-year Free Our Data campaign. The move will bring the UK into line
>>with the free publication of maps that exists in the US."
>>
>>(More at
>>http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/17/ordnance-survey-maps-online)
>>
>>In the US you can download whatever you want, the equivalent of an entire
>>map. Their scales are different, but I'm sure it goes to their equivalent
>>of 1:50k and I think 1:25k. I have an application that can use that data
>>if
>>we really follow the US model. We'll have to wait and see.
>
> I eagerly await seeing .. although what we (or 'I' anyway) really need is
> the digital data, vector style, for turning into something useful - a
> digital copy of the paper maps, i.e. a picture, raster format, whatever
> you want to call it, is useless for anything except looking at.
>
seems to have died a death, which leaves the vector data only at basic scale
(1:1250, 1:2500 and 1:10000)
Graham
Gwyn
<giraffe...@homecall.co.uk> wrote:
>From BBC - we'll have to wait to see if it'll be usefull:
>
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/technology/8366190.stm
It would be useful to get 1:25000 digital data for free my .qct maps
date back to 2004 the ones that have been flying around the web on
bittorrent sites for ages are getting a bit out of date.
GSV Three Minds in a Can
person Graham Seed <gra...@ntlworld.com> said
>> I eagerly await seeing .. although what we (or 'I' anyway) really
>>need is the digital data, vector style, for turning into something
>>useful - a digital copy of the paper maps, i.e. a picture, raster
>>format, whatever you want to call it, is useless for anything except
>>looking at.
>>
>I don't think there is vector 25k. There used to be vector 10k but that
>seems to have died a death, which leaves the vector data only at basic
>scale (1:1250, 1:2500 and 1:10000)
I wonder where and at what scale Garmin got the vector contours and
water features data for the topo UK maps? (The roads, as we know, came
from Navteq not from OSGB).
--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Mike Clark
I had a quick chat with the CEO of the OS earlier this week. She is an
external on our University Council. Apparently this announcement was
made by government without giving much prior warning to the OS. There is
now a consultation period in which the OS can respond to the proposal
and then there will be full details announced.
It isn't clear that this will be the good news that some hope.
Apparently the OS has been able to generate sufficient funds from its
commercial activities to cover the ongoing costs of updating and
maintaining high quality mapping. However it isn't clear that the
government given its present financial position will provide funds to
cover these costs. This is likely to mean the laying off of staff in the
OS and potentially a reduction in the quality of future mapping. So the
short term gain of us getting access to current high quality data may be
matched by a longer term decline in the future quality.
The additional point is that there are a lot of companies that have
business models based upon the commercial use of OS data and many of
these may also not be able to adapt quick enough and so may go out of
business.
Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | caving, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"