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Kevin,
Indeed, how to make money using it or not using it (by providing value o= ver and above, either with or without GoogleMaps). The pace, in face, the acceleration of, solutions using GoogleMaps is astonishing. FastCompany= has a great article this month on the secrets to Google's success (besides t= he obvious). Another point re: Google suggested that their engineers and tinkerers are "free" from the normal business constraints of justifying = the R&D by potential market, and they make that determination based on other organizational principles that align (or not) with the mission, and then= , if the new idea passes that threshhold, another group of brainiacs finds a business model (some iteration of advertising) that works with it and ta= kes it to the next level, eventually finding its way to the public debut. =20
Content is kind. If Google can't find someone to provide "it" so that t= hey can make $$ from it, then my bet is that they will make it themselves if= the economic model is compelling enough. Amazon's A9.com BlockView technolo= gy is very cool, 20 million store front images linked to location, but comp= ared to Google, it's uptake is a footnote in history and its only 6 months ol= d or so. =20
I can see a time, not so far away, where everything you search for on Go= ogle will be spatially-related, that is, tied to a GoogleMap in one form or another. As covered by Adena today, eatnow.com actually performs some "= very GIS" analysis by perform point in poly analysis, and then gives a map or listings of restaurants that deliver to a particular address. How cool = is that! SRC.com uses googlemaps to publish census data in an nice interfac= e that is fast, relevant and free of the bells and whistles that cost thousands of dollars a year. Hundreds, if not thousands of other niche applications are in the works right now as this thread grows, and indeed= , some will be making money, even if only on the coattails of google.
Anthony
-----Original Message----- From: gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com [mailto:gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Whitlock Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 1:12 PM To: gislist@lists.thinkburst.com Subject: Re: [gislist] GoogleMaps?
Ahhh! Finally someone started a thread that reflects what we in the offi= ce have been talking about for weeks...namely, where does Google Earth fit = into the traditional GIS, mapping and geomatics industry? Or rather, what ca= n't it provide that we can? Or, more truthfully, can we make some money from this?
The bottom line is data. Fidelity, accuracy, relevancy, locality, etc. = etc.
However, provide an open source API and more methods to add your own dat= a (layers) or methods to include Google Earth in other applications...?
Kevin www.pat.ca -----Original Message----- From: gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com [mailto:gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com] On Behalf Of Frank Warmerdam Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 9:15 AM To: Anthony Quartararo Cc: Adena.Schutzberg@directionsmag.com: gislist@lists.thinkburst.com Subject: Re: [gislist] GoogleMaps?
On 10/21/05, Anthony Quartararo <ajq3@spatialnetworks.com> wrote: > It's my opinion that Google will continue to add content, and=20 > eventually make GoogleEarth free too, and never charge a fee for it,=20 > even for industrial strength, commercial "for-profit" applications. =20 > They will however, even if not yet determined, find a business model=20 > that involves advertising revenues, that will "pay" for all this, and=20 > they will simply ignore anyone using GoogleMaps in a commercial application. > > So, what's wrong with this picture? Nothing. However, ...
Anthony,
I think one aspect you are missing is that the data companies (ie. DigitalGlobe, etc) will not put up with this picture indefinately. If Google doesn't enforce their usage restrictions, then the data compan= ies will apply pressure to Google.
One interesting possibliity is that Google might just purchase an unlimi= ted license for the data it wants. They may have to settle for "second best= " data in some cases in order to get the right to use as they wish, but if this happens it could really have an effect.
> What we don't see in the landscape are things like "desktop GIS",=20 > "GIS", or > even "OGC" [note to the faithful: not a dig], and so, what will we [as= =20 > an entrenched, slow moving, traditional industry] do when the only=20 > place people > go (practically speaking) for anything geospatial will be the virtual > (mammoth) googleplex... ?
To be hon
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