Maps want to be free!
summary
Company moves off Google Maps after 700,000 map views/day would cost ~$900,000/year under old pricing, negotiates down to $120,000, then rebuilds for about $15–20k/year by using OpenStreetMap plus city data, spending ~1.5 man‑months to prototype, designing tiles in TileMill + Leaflet + Mapbox hosted tiles. Uses building outlines, schools, subway feeds, neighborhood boundaries; loses satellite/street‑view and some geocoding/routing convenience but gains full control and easier updates.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (6)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:12The problem with Google Maps
- 5:37The tools
- 7:36Hidden costs
- 9:23Stay with Google
- 9:50Limitations
related talks
26mUpdates to the Mapbox Tiling Service: Faster, simpler, more cost-effective tiling
15mMaking maps work on mobile
44mMaps & Data
01h 34mBuild a Web Map with Open Source Tools
32m"The Evolving Geoweb"
05mUnlocking Real-Time Data
15mAn Infinite Map: The Protomaps Vector Basemap based on OpenStreetMap
43mBuild a Web Map with Open Source Tools
