It is a side-by-side comparison of OSM data from 2012 (left) and the current OSM data. In my local area the difference is massive: the 2012 data has some roads but that's about it, no buildings, house numbers, etc. That's all present on the 2022 version (disclaimer: partly because I spent several months walking around mapping things with the StreetComplete app [1]).
For me it isn't down, just taking a very long time (multiple minutes) to load the 2012 data.
I can’t open it, but here it’s the opposite :( OSM used to be amazing, better than google, now it’s horribly outdated. It shows several stores in my street that have closed over 6 years ago.
I actually found StreetComplete a few days ago and have started fixing issues, at least for my neighborhood.
> now it’s horribly outdated. It shows several stores in my street that have closed over 6 years ago
OSM is mostly volunteers, and if no one has happened by on your street in the last 6 years, then no one has noticed to update the map.
> I actually found StreetComplete a few days ago and have started fixing issues, at least for my neighborhood.
This is the expected outcome, locals fixing local issues. Given a sufficient amount of that, and you have a better map than googles offering. Of course, as you discovered, if no one is around to make the fixes, the data also goes stale.
Well done on fixing those issues. I've been updating stores in my area, too.
And OSM is the only map that shows the new roundabouts near my house. I just put them in yesterday after riding my bicycle around them several times to get a track.
We are OSM! If it has shortcomings, we've no one to blame but ourselves.
The story of mapping is different for every corner of the world. E.g. in the blog post there's a pic where we mapped the city approximately due to absence of satellite imagery. In this post https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Zverik/diary/399925 it shows that some regions like Africa were nearly empty ten years ago, before the Humanitarian OSM Team lauched their operations. And in 2012 the focus was mostly on basic map features like roads and rivers, while now we're adding final building outlines.
For me it isn't down, just taking a very long time (multiple minutes) to load the 2012 data.
[1] https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete