Re:Craigslist is on board: OpenStreetMap soars to new heights
by ZeroGravitas on Wednesday August 29, 2012 @08:16AM
(#4448115)
The OSM tiles are intended for mappers building the database and so err on the side of too much detail.
As you say, for display you can make your own tiles, but you can also get them (free for many uses) from a range of 3rd parties:
http://switch2osm.org/providers/
If you just want a drop in replacement for Google, rather than something unique then this is probably your best bet:
For me, there's too much detail, making OSM difficult to look at and parse.
OSM has a long way to go design wise. I also think there's a lot of room to innovate with design in cartography (Apple have done well in this regard).
I general, design and open source haven't managed to find a rhythm. Probably because design by committee always fails, and open source design is always going to be design by committee. But that's a whole other conversation.