Wish list: Improvement to Map Correction applet

[boblite]

[1] The Map Share and Map Correction ideas are totally brilliant and an important reason I am trying out a TomTom GPS in preference to a Garmin.

However I have found to my disappointment that the implementation of Map Correction in TomTom Home 2 (version 2.7.5.2014) is exceedingly klutzy and user unfriendly.

It may sound immodest, but the current applet is so lame that I could design a hell of a lot better interface myself, within a couple of weeks, for a modest fee.

What has prompted my irritation with the app is I happen to live on a 50 mile long state highway, and five miles from my home the road is temporarily closed (for six months while a bridge is rebuilt) but the Map Share correction seems to think a segment of the road much closer to my home is closed, and I keep getting erroneous messages asking me if I want to replan the route, and I can find no way (a) to find out exactly what segment of the road has been fingered as blocked (b) how to remove the block.

I am sure there must be a way to do these things, and I have tried several times so far without success, but it is not intuitively obvious to me. Now I am sure some reader of this post can provide me with directions on how to do it. But my point is that the interface should make it so easy to do that a caveman like myself can do it on the fly.

[2] One very obvious way to improve the end user’s interface for handling road closures is as follows:

[2.1] In graphical form, on the map, both 3D and 2D, show the segment of road that is blocked with a bunch of “X” characters from the beginning to the end of the closure, so that the extent of the closure is clear, and so the end user can easily click on the closure and update it if so desired. Make the X characters red if the information comes from map share, and make them blue if the information comes from the end user. If X characters are inappropriate, choose some other indicator. Also, make it possible for end user to move the indicators by dragging them by finger when in map browser mode, or by mouse in the TomTom Home map view.

[2.2] In textual form, provide a listing of road closures [a] en route within a radius of Z miles. This would give the end user a better overview of road closure conditions in their present location, and would probably improve the reporting of changes to road closures, because if a user sees a road listed as closed that is not on her/his travel path, he or she might well be a good citizen and notify TomTom map share. To make it easy to report changes, why not provide an update box for each closure listed textually, that would be sent to TomTom MapShare the next time the user hooks the device to their PC.




? Copyright, 8/25/2010, Robert Lightbourne

 

[dhn]

Try removing all mapshares by everyone and see what happens on the route.

By the way, what do you think is served by your providing a copyright notation at the end of your post?

Technically, any literature with that on it can't be quoted by another without the copyright owner's position.

So, you decide.........

If you wish to be an active participant in these forums with interesting observations that others can refer to AND QUOTE, then take that nortice off.

If you wish to have the notice on, then I'd suggest you publish a paper somewhere but don't post here.

 

[boblite]

I freely give permission for anyone to quote from the post with the copyright notice. But if TomTom utilizes any of the ideas in the post I might quite possibly have a right to be compensated for my intellectual property.

I should add that I would not plan to make any immoderate demands for compensation. Note that if TomTom is receptive to this kind of input, it might encourage other forum participants to put some time and effort into proposing improvements.

Note also that as a result of infelicities in the software, I have spent considerable time over the past few days thinking on how it might be improved.

 

[boblite]

Anent your suggestion

Try removing all mapshares by everyone and see what happens on the route.

I would think this would work, but would it not have the effect of removing all other information on road closures ?

 

[dhn]

First of all, this is an INDEPENDENT forum. We are not affiliated with TomTom, inc. in any way.

Therefore, they do not check here in any official capacity at all. Never have. Never will.

Your listing suggestions here are nice but will not do anything to bring them about unless you deal with TomTom directly.

So you may have spent many hours on your analysis and research but if any of your suggestions get implemented by TomTom, you don't have a case. you have posted in a public forum.

You'd need a good lawyer..........one specializing in intellectual property rights.

 

[boblite]

Anent your suggestion

Try removing all mapshares by everyone and see what happens on the route.

Seems very likely this would work, but would it not have the effect of deleting information on other road closures ?

 

[dhn]

Well, as I understand it, it may be a faulty mapshare correction uploaded by someone else and distributed by TomTom that is causing the problem.

What security level do you have mapshares set for? Verified by TT? Reported by many? etc., etc.,

You can try altering the setting and see if that helps.

Yes, removing all corrections does just that, remove any mapshare corrections from your map, regardless of what level of mapshare security was used to download them in the first place.

 

[boblite]

DHN, many thanks for your responses. You are quite possibly right in everything you say.

However, I would hope that TomTom quietly watches the comments made in this forum, in order to improve their products and to fix rough edges.

I know a little about intellectual property law, and am not convinced by your assertion that I would have no case, should I wish to pursue it, but then again, quite possibly you are correct.

So.. once again... thanks for your comments.

 

[boblite]

One further comment, then I should shuddupa my face. The TomTom 540 XXL TM that I have purchased is intrinsically a magnificent product and I love it dearly.

However, I have a strong impression that having invested a lot in developing this product, that TomTom is now resting on their oars, and to improve their bottom line are putting the minimum possible resources into improving the existing product.

If suggestions such as mine were implemented, product reviews in places like Amazon might improve. I am currently writing an Amazon review in which I will give 5 stars for the hardware and the basic concepts underlying the software, but 3 stars (or maybe 2) for mediocre implementation of the software with a mediocre user interface and several very annoying installation bugs.

With just a little attention devoted to polishing, my TomTom would be an even stronger competitor to Garmin. TomTom has a killer concept in mapshare, that needs to have rough edges smoothed: TomTom has no apparent issues with continuity of providing traffic info, while Garmin has lost a lot of ground through its infamous contract with MSN traffic; and Telemap Share <sp?> has been rated as having a slight edge over Navteq.

So... I am pretty po'd at TomTom for (a) wasting a lot of my time with a buggy install of the latest edition of TomTom HOME and (b) for still not solving the safety camera installation problem (c) for the weak map correction interface that just needs a little further work to shine.

I've been writing these comments in hopes they will pull their socks up and polish their diamond of a product instead of irritating end users with user unfriendly implementation.

Sorry to go on and on, but I really feel strongly that I am right in what I have said.

 

[dhn]

Don't apologize for your comments......some do indeed have an aggrevation installing Home and your other points are well taken.

Not everyone suffers from the problems but enough users do ..........

You know, a fellow moderator here calls Home "The work of the devil!" And we CONSTANTLY tell users NOT to trust Home with the backups.

So you aren't getting any argument from this side.

 

[canderson]

[
What has prompted my irritation with the app is I happen to live on a 50 mile long state highway, and five miles from my home the road is temporarily closed (for six months while a bridge is rebuilt) but the Map Share correction seems to think a segment of the road much closer to my home is closed, and I keep getting erroneous messages asking me if I want to replan the route, and I can find no way (a) to find out exactly what segment of the road has been fingered as blocked (b) how to remove the block.

First, understand that as there is some granularity to the segmentation of the roads (major intersections being one of the more obvious points of division), it is possible that the user marking the closed segment was required to select more than desired. If you want, you can play with this by fiddling with an arbitrary change of speed limit to see what pieces you can light up green on an individual basis. Don't save any of those attempts, of course.

If the road segments in the map database appear to allow for it, your option is to unblock a segment of the road using the same correction method that the original corrector used to create the block to begin with. If you go into map corrections for block/unblock, and select the point at which his block occurs, you should be able to relieve that one and add one of your own in what you believe to be a more appropriate location -- assuming, of course, that the segments involved allow you to do so.

 

[dhn]

A thread about correcting map segments started by supermod Mike can be found here