Lost. Photo: Ollie Crafoord/Flickr CC

Even cyclists, many of whom see themselves as the Apache of their city’s roadways, will soon be taking orders from Google.

A blogger at MIT’s Center for Future Media asks,

“Does this spell the end for DIY cycle mapping? Will having a major commercial bike map provider decrease people’s motivation to contribute their own routes or use potentially clunkier interfaces? Can we learn something here about the relationship between crowd-sourced, DIY public services and corporate takeovers?”

And I thought the whole point of cycling was doing your own thing, with the added thrill of risking head injury.

via cfd’s blog | Center for Future Civic Media.