Real Neo1973 photo / Neo delayed...!?

[Attila Csipa]

On Friday 12 January 2007 00:00, Sean Moss-Pultz wrote:
> We have this stuff, but I didn't think to use it for the first release of
> OpenMoko. The rendering engine is totally closed source, expensive, and the
> maps are even more expensive.
> If there's enough interest, it might be cool to just sell the mapping data
> and see if we can support an open source mapping engineer. Is this
> something people would pay for?

I'm pretty certain they would (I happen to be a Mapserver contributor and make 
a living from OSS mapping projects). Data is the key here. The question is if 
you can get _adequate_ data at a price you can spread accross a solid number 
of units. First, not all vendors will be willing to (openly) give out their 
best quality data WITHOUT the engine, as it is obvious you will be using it 
with a different engine, OR they will ask an even higher price for it. Add to 
this proprietary data formats, inconsistent data sets, country specific 
projections, outdated sections, and you are in for quite a ride. Google maps 
spoiled us(ers) and made it look as it's easy, but in fact, it's pretty far 
from it, especially if a megacorp like Google or Microsoft does not absorb 
the data cost (and guess why the most often repeated legal warning in related 
EULAs is that under no circumstances is google maps (or, to be more precise, 
navteq/teleatlas) data allowed to be used for automotive or navigational 
purposes).