What OpenStreetMap can be

Over the past two years, the biggest buzz among the geo chatterati has been Justin O'Beirne's meticulously argued (albeit bizarrely formatted) feature-by-feature comparisons of Google and Apple Maps: their design choices, their data, their production processes.What fascinates me is how the comparison is implicitly phrased. Apple Maps is fighting on Google Maps' turf, and Justin O'Beirne never questions that. He asks "How far ahead of Apple Maps is Google Maps?". It implies the same direction of travel. They're going the same place, but Google is getting there quicker.Meanwhile, OpenStreetMap goes its own way.

I've never actively used OpenStreetMap, but I feel like I should give it a far shot at some point. Are there people in the OSNews audience who use it? What are your experiences?