Archive for December, 2006
2006
Here are four “events” from 2006 that I consider as evolutionary milestones of our burgeoning SIS industry:
E2- ESRI finally catches up to GE. Almost
Virtual Earth- Microsoft adds the ability to add and save shapes, and browser-based GE-esque 3D views
GE- Google gulps SketchUp and consolidates GE’s usergroups by jumping head-first in collaborations
Spatial Web Services- Be it ESRI’s ArcWeb Services with GlobeXplorer, or DM Solutions Group‘s MapSherpa Spatial Web Services and Mapgears, spatial web services gain a firmer footing at the enterprise level.
–π
Follow Up [5]: Katrina Links
Former senator Stafford of Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, familiar to anyone requesting, managing and mapping disaster grants under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program [HMGP] AKA Buyout Program, dies at 93.
–π
Related:
Pre-Disaster Mitigation [PDM] Grant Program
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Follow Up [1]: ESRI Ketchup!
Following on the heels of E2, Google recently consolidated GE’s usergroups through some interesting collaborations with Wikipedia and Panoramio. These follow earlier deals with UNEP, NASA, USGS, ESA, Discovery, National Geographic et al.
These steps slowly push one other software- ESRI’s ArcGlobe, part of the ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension, further away from all that is important. ArcGlobe was useful in that it eventually led to E2, but ESRI had much bigger plans- it was promoted to become widely adopted for 3D data mapping and visualization.
Then Google came along, and ArcGlobe and all the shabby flyby animations and painstaking multipatches in ArcScene, also part of 3D Analyst, suddenly became embarrassing.
That leads me to my prediction of the week: all this will force ESRI to either lower the inflation-adjusted cost of its pricey 3D Analyst- currently marked at $2500, or absorb some of it into E2 or the desktop. Note that Google Earth Pro today costs a fraction at $400.
Fortius One‘s GeoIQ: A free simple Spatial Analyst?
–π
Related:
ArcGIS Extensions
More via Google Earth Links
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Follow Up [4]: Katrina Links
“FEMA Told to Resume Storm Aid”
Related:
Blogs about this article
“Katrina Victims in Limbo as FEMA Appeals Aid Order”
Government Accountability Office [GAO] Report: Abstract- Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief. Continued Findings of Fraud, Waste and Abuse. GAO-07-252T. December 6, 2006
Video: Reactions from the Grassroots- Effects of Flood Map Modernization [Map Mod] Program’s Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps [DFIRMs] on National Flood Insurance Program’s [NFIP's] Ordinance Updates
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