Hivemapper a decentralized Google map

When it comes to decentralized Apps how decentralized and disruptive are often what appeals to me. The likes of us on Hive understands how it feels to use DApps and get rewarded for them, so we want more DApps, I personally want the disruptive ones. Actifit on Hive, though hasn't gained traction like I expect but it has always got me thinking what if we have a tokenized and decentralized Google map, wouldn't that be great?

Brave browser is one of such disruptive DApp I use daily, it is still far off from being a winning force against Google Chrome but it has been seeing some growth over the years

For the fifth year in a row, we’ve doubled the number of our monthly active users, going from 24 million MAU on December 31st, 2020, to over 50 million by the end of 2021.
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Give Brave another half a decade and we could possibly be looking at numbers around 200 million or more as adoption for cryptocurrency grows, the same applies to Presearch, a decentralized search engine that rewards you for using it.

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Hivemapper is a decentralized mapping service that uses dashboard-mounted cameras on contributors’ cars and incentivizes users to drive around and record their surroundings. The network is built on the Solana blockchain, and users are rewarded with HONEY crypto tokens for their automatic contributions to the overall map.
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The team behind Hivemapper seems to have the experience with map behind them as they comprise of former Yahoo’s director of product management on Yahoo Maps, former Tinder CEO, former Apple Maps executive Jaron Waldman along with other Angel investors.

However I feel the growth of Hivemapper might be slower compared to Brave and Presearch due to the technical complexity of designing decentralized Google map as it appear there is more reliant on users helping to capture footages for the mapping service...

Similarly, the upcoming Hivemapper Dashcam—which will sell for $449 and ship starting in July—will automatically reward users with HONEY tokens for capturing footage, which is automatically added to the overall mapping service. The Dashcam actually uses Helium’s network of nearly 700,000 wireless nodes (and growing) to authenticate vehicle location.
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Hivemapper idea appeals to me basically because I do a lot of work-related travel so instead of using Google map a decentralize Hivemapper is very welcome by me but I feel the cost involved in supporting the project might slow down the progress of Hivemapper. Purchasing a Dashcam wort $449 might be unaffordable to majority.

Depending on the outcome they might have to find alternative way, if this approach fails to give desired momentum, by the looks it seems they are flexible in trying out possible working strategies as paying out employees to drive around for footages was an approach before arriving at the Dashcam option.

Hopefully Hivemapper becomes a success with more DApps of the same option to follow, the more decentralized and disruptive the better.

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