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Comment by jlangenauer | Hacker News Reader

It shouldn't be up to people to have to spend time and money to correct Google's errors, and to stop Google inconviencing them. Somehow, it has become completely accepted for Google/FB/et al to make profits while shifting costs and externalities onto society.

Why do we allow these tech giants to treat us so disgracefully?

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Do you even remember what it was like trying to find your way around a foreign city before google maps? They mapped the world and provided it as a service for free.

Yes, I used services like Map24.

I do. I remember adding a lot of buffer time just in case I wouldn't be able to find my way. It is much more convenient now with G-Maps and other providers. I also remember how expensive the maps for the early navigation systems were and how bad they were.

I remember. You had to plan in advance and communicate with others.

you stopped at a gas station and bought a mapsco.

Paper maps were often only marginally useful due to lack of proper street signs or building numbers, especially at night or in bad weather.

There were other mapping services too. Google also didn't start from blank map, they bought data from Navteq/TeleAtlas.

>Why do we allow these tech giants to treat us so disgracefully?

Because we've already been conditioned to accept this kind of behavior from our local governments.

How should these issues be caught without people submitting them to Google?

Tech giants have the same rights individuals do to spend boring but annoying misinformation ("rumors").

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