Skip to main content

Gluttons for Punishment?

By
I was pretty excited about a new mashup of Google Maps, called Route You. In their own words:
We produce and translate raw route-information towards digital structured data.
We also create route-networks for GPS navigation systems. Our focus is mainly outdoor navigation for tourists, hikers, cyclists and motorbikers. During the outdoor activity, the user wants to be navigated via the most suitable and relaxing route, rather than the shortest or fastest.

We produce these kind of routes and route-networks which allow route-planning and turn-by-turn navigation for cyclists, hikers, citytrippers, motorbikers...
Ok, so the cool aspect of the site is that it would give routes that were custom catered to non-automobiles: walking, bikes, and scooters. Great! Just what I was looking for to avoid those freeway-addicted Google Maps. Easy enough: signed up, headed over, indicated I was looking for the fastest route via bike, plotted my start point and my finish point, and voila: a perfect, bike-friendly route. Right? RIGHT?

Um, No.

While the route they produced did have a big plus, in that it showed an elevation chart for the ride, it completely failed on the core competency of navigating: it directed me to a freeway. Now, I know: the site is free, and you get what you pay for, but this is utter foolishness: you specifically set yourself up as a site that is providing non-auto related directions, and you include freeway navigation? Fail.

To be fair, if I wanted to plot the whole route out, waypoint by waypoint, I could have, and it would have been very accuate. For that, however, there is another option: MapMyRide, formerly RouteSlip. Although the site has more advertising on it than a NASCAR entry, it offers a ton more in the way of calculation and automatic work. Want to figure out how many calories you burn on your ride? Done. Need to see the local bike shops on your route, in case you need supplies. Boom. Want your iPhone to automatically log your rides and send the stats to the website? Got it. They even offer training programs, and suggested rides, based on your workouts. Now THAT is a bike-friendly site.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Loyalty Review: Kohl's Yes2You

By
 As some of you know, I've spent over 15 years in the customer loyalty space. So, when I come across a new retail loyalty program, I can't help but see the pluses and minuses. After this many years, it's kind of ingrained. Periodically, I'll share my thoughts with you. Today, it's Kohl's turn under the scope. Let's have a look, shall we? I've divided the review up into three sections: what's good about the program, what's bad about the program, and what I'd change about it. That last one has some actual value: I charged hundreds of dollars per hour for loyalty program consulting, and had over a dozen clients, before I moved to JustAnswer FT. But, being a pandemic and all, I'm giving it away for free here. Kohl's, you're welcome. Here we go! The Good Sign up is opt in Seems odd to praise Kohl's for this, but in department store loyalty, this is a rarity, and a smart one. It means the customers who are opted in are already prime...
1 comment
Read more

Revisiting Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1

By
I recently started rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation from the beginning. I have nothing but fond memories of the original run in the 1980s, given how excited I was for a new Trek series in my lifetime (I had only reruns and the movies to stoke my Trek interest), and it recently occurred to me that, while I diligently consumed every TNG episode, I had not experienced the series since it's original run.  Why did I do this? Well, a few reasons: With the triumphant return of Sir Patrick Stewart to the smaller screen as the venerable Jean Luc Picard , I thought it would be interesting to contrast this version with the previous, and see how far he has come. It would add color to the character, as well as Sir Patrick. Frankly, with the COVID19 lockdown, the series I have binged upon have been intense, dark, and disturbing. Combined with the activity of the world, including insane politics, homicidal police who seem to view people of color as "prey," rather than their ch...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Shed A Tear For Movie Theaters

By
Atom Films had an article that really hit me hard. It seems that Scott Gustin , who covers entertainment, went to the opening of Avengers: Endgame a year ago, in Los Angeles. Like all of us, he had been waiting for this film for seemingly forever, but Scott did something I bet none of us did: he recorded the sound of the crowd reacting to the film. Cool, right? Now, take a moment to visualize a year ago. No people trapped in their homes, worried about illness or financial uncertainty the likes we've never seen. Responding to Trump's latest with a roll of the eyes, rather than a frustrated scream. No overwhelming frustration leading to riots at state capitals . And no horrific illness, robbing us of friends and family, in a wave not seen in a century. No, in this time, early April of 2019, we were watching Trump still bitch about his border wall. Over in Ukraine, a country most of us hadn't really thought about, they were electing a comedian as president, and we...
Post a Comment
Read more