Wikimaps

After getting lost on the way to my brother's new apartment this weekend due to bad directions (thank you MapQuest), I started thinking about how useful it would be if the existing mapping sites encouraged users to come back and provide feedback on how to improve the directions in the future. That got me to thinking about how these sites would go about incorporating user feedback and then eventually led me to the conclusion that Wiki maps would be the best way for people to share their knowledge. With Wikis you could add information on difficult turns, modify directions to include shortcuts, add information about local traffic, etc. In addition to directions, these maps could also be used to share information on interesting destinations such as restaurants, stores, landmarks, etc. Turns out I'm not the only one thinking this way, as there's already a site dedicated to this very topic. It looks like thinking in this area is still in its early stages and there are still plenty of technical hurdles to overcome, but it's only a matter of time before someone comes up with a good solution for the problem. Cool!