Open Street Mapping Project

At first i didn't see the need for the Open Street Mapping Project. I thought it was a redundancy since we now have Google Earth and Mapquest. Since these two tools are free for use on the internet i assumed that they were free to use in any way we wished. I had no idea that they had proprietary issues. After finding this fact out i gained a whole new appreciation for The Open Mapping Project. An open source map that everyone can contribute to. And what i particularly found beautiful is that the user is able to highlight what they find important. By allowing them to focus on mapping things other then just roads and street names, they can activley change and expand how we use maps as a society. They make an example of people mapping mailboxes but i see greater possibilities. People can decide to map open spaces, or trees or sites of importance to them. From this we can create a living map of experience that is more then just a map showing where we are but also where we have been and where we are going.