1 million OpenStreetMap users
The base map used by the PingPal cloud service and API is provided by openstreetmap.org, the open source “Wikipedia” of maps. Now, an important milestone has been passed; 1 million users! That’s a million people who have signed up on openstreetmap.org to join in with creating a free map of the world.
At first glance you may think that OpenStreetMap is a map. Those who know more will tell you that it’s actually a database; a flexible editable repository of free geospatial data. But above all OpenStreetMap is a community. A massive community in which people like you and me come together collaborate and help build this thing… and now there’s a million of us!
As is typical of any such online community, this sign up count includes a “long tail” of users who contributed very little or nothing at all, while a much smaller number of users contribute significantly on a regular basis (more stats at http://wiki.osm.org/Stats ). Some highlights (as of today):
| Number of users | 1 010 734 |
| Number of uploaded GPS points | 3 246 967 523 |
| Number of nodes | 1 737 636 219 |
| Number of ways | 166 108 987 |
Nevertheless, many hands make light work, and with more than a million users now able to edit the map, OpenStreetMap’ s coverage and detail is growing rapidly, and beginning to rival that of other map providers.
The process of contributing involves getting out and exploring the world. It can be a fun way to use smartphones, GPS receivers or other gadgets to collect data, though it can also be as simple as taking notes with pen and paper, or even just adding a local café or restaurant from your local knowledge.
So rest assures. OpenStreetMap is already a quality map that is more than suitable for PingPal based apps and services, and it is rapidly improving even more. Way better than Apple Maps today and Google Maps, look out!
