Why Mapbox teamed up with MapQuest

Mapbox is a D.C.-based company that uses open-source data to create precise, customizable maps.
Sounds like a potential competitor for companies with similar sounding names, like MapQuest.
And yet, the AOL subsidiary that reminds us of simpler days of printed road directions has become Mapbox’s latest client.
“They’re going to be using our maps,” said Mapbox data scientist Alex Barth.

We are building the future of maps for web and mobile.

That’s part and parcel of Mapbox’s strategy — operating as an enterprise company, rather than a competitor to map-based sites.
“We’re not going to build a consumer app but we’re going to build all the pieces for you to build that consumer app,” said Barth. “Our customers don’t need to worry about ‘Is Mapbox going to eat my lunch?'”
That’s also how Mapbox plans to make its products ubiquitous on people’s cellphones and web browsers.
“We are building the future of maps for web and mobile,” said Barth. “We’re looking at ourselves as the location layer.”
Mapbox’s mapping API, he argues, is more efficient and customizable than Google’s.
He recalled having to make a map of the U.S.’s hydro dams with a Google Maps API. “It was terrible,” he said. “Like a sea of little red pins.”
Mapbox, formerly known as Development Seed, was founded in 2003 by Eric Gundersen and Ian Ward. It started out as a data visualization and web application strategy consultancy for NGOs, which included the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute.
But in 2010, it began to pivot to focus on creating better maps for its clients. Its clients now include Foursquare, GitHub and Pinterest.
“We’d always want to make a product,” said Barth. Eventually, he said, he hopes that product will place a new tool in everybody’s hands.
“You can design your own website,” he said. “This ability that you can design your own map is just as natural and straightforward.”