If you guys take a look at Chromium OS and Google Apps in general, nothing works without Internet connection. Personally – I am not big fan of storing my data on a cloud for which I am not 100% sure I will be able to access when I will need.

Don’t get me wrong – if I would be online ALL THE TIME, EVERYWHERE in the world (I could possible find my self), I would use this, and never look back at local data storage (be it documents or world maps), and I ofcourse – I would be biggest preacher of Googlism.

But we are still far from there yet (I think we are at the same distance to that as we are from free electric energy) and therefore we have right to judge this idea.

So, you see Google becoming Telecom. Well, that is not impossible, I would like that as well.

You need map so you can visually see where that coordinates are and use that to orientate yourself in space. Traditional GPS devices (Garmin, Tom Tom) have those maps as preloaded vectors that you buy.

Google, in order to display your position on a map requires your device to download maps in realtime from the internet (i do not acknowledge map preloading as an option). Thus, if you do not have rather fast mobile internet connection – you are screwed.

Yes, you will always know your X Y coordinate, but a number 45,5456456 16,2134234 is pretty meaningless unless you can see it on a map.

The ‘Google GPS’ is just a fallback and ofcourse only nessecary if there is no real GPS. I don’t see the problem.

Therefore, Google’s evolution here is not stopped by them – it is stopped by infrastructure provided by others.

Googles stuff evolves, *FAST*
That’s why the stocks have plumited, ’cause stocks are also about the future.

If google releases something right now, it will mean you will have incremental updates every couple of months, for free, instead of every X years if you can cough up the money. Also, this stuff is hooked up to the world in a way that scares the current producers like Tomtom and Garmin and makes the minds of nerds around the world buzz.

The fact that you have thought of these (potential) problems here, probably means that someone at google did too, and they are already working on it. In a a couple of releases, you can probably just plan and download the whole route you’re going to drive, i can imagine even different kinds of packages depending on what you’re data plan is ( unlimited access will also download streetview material of the upcoming turns or so if available, roaming you will just download the map and terrain data)

On other hand.. what REALLY pisses me off is the level of details all those map services have for our region. I can zoom-in on my friends house in Netherlands and see him taking a dump. In high-res.

The wiki idea is great, and I respetc all the people that contribute onto any wiki, but wiki is hardly accurate on a lot of topics, and I have proven that wiki can be manipulated ( I have inserted one friend to be Anti-pope ). As a mental test imagine you sit on a plane and pilot says: on this flight we will be flying using open source wiki based naviation. The plane would empty faster than if it was fire-drill.

Guess you also did not hear about OpenStreetMap
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap

The only problem that I see with Google Maps are PNG images that are used to store and display routes in Google Maps.

They could change this, and use some kind of vector technology (eg SVG) that overlays real satellite images that are downloaded from the cloud. When you are offline, only routes are displayed.

Isn’t that like two hundred Gjizillion bytes of data?

And what happens when I want to take a different route (as it happened to me because ferry boat from one side of Denmark was not operational, so I had to detour to the other side of Denmark)?

I mean, boys, do not get me wrong, internet based GPS is cool, and imma let him finish, but real satellite GPS has the best solution so far.

Desired map location from Google Maps (with every possible zoom level) are downloaded on PS and saved on PSP memory card, it is no rocket science to build an application for Android that has a similar feature.

First time when I was in Budapest I had paper map with me. Damn I hate paper maps! There is no fucking way to open it in the car (it’s too big) or to search something when night falls.

Damn I love my GPS and i don’t go anywhere without it.

So, it’s usefulness is undeniable — even though it’s free, and even though it might be unavailable at times. Had I gotten a hint of places to stay at, or places to go to during that time, I’ve would’ve taken that advice no questions asked. And I think that’s what Google is going for (as a first step at least, until every tiny corner of the Earth has proper coverage).

Just sayin’.
Proper GPS apps are irreplaceable (especially if you’re “discovering new grounds”), but free apps such as Google Maps definitely have a market of their own.

A) only one zoom level is cached. For example, you look at the map at one magnification, and then decide to zoom in while you are offline. Or zoom out. Will not work.

B) what good is a GPS that relies on cached data. Cached data means, most likely, that you have visited tha location. Therefore, your device cached it. So why do you need GPS there again? If you used GPS to come from point a to point b, next time it is really not so likely you will need GPS again!