Maps, Mash-Ups and Where 2.0
by DT - June 22nd, 2006 2:24 pm
I have watched with awed fascination, because I am such an enthusiast for maps, the development of universally available, satellite-aided mapping through the internet.
It came no surprise to see web-users soon exploiting the commercial possibilities of computer-generated mapping. If you can merge into an online map other forms of information – like, say, real estate details and prices, a slide-show of scenic pictures, or a guide to geographically-indexed businesses – you can of course sell this value-added compilation. And that’s exactly what many web-savvy people are now doing.
So many in fact that O’Reilly Media, the 28-year old Sebastapol, California-based company formed by alpha geeks who claim virtually to have invented Open Source networking, were able to hold an e-mapping conference in San Jose this month (June 13-14), wittily titled “Where 2.0″. Everyone there was deeply into “mash-ups”, the mixing of maps from Google (and elsewhere) with other helpful stuff mixed in, that’s been growing so rapidly since it began about a year ago.
It was only in June 2005 that Google began allowing developers to pretty much do whatever they liked with its map data. Microsoft’s Virtual Earth started similar open access in September, and Yahoo! fully opened up its mapping program in recent weeks.
A few operators have proved able to turn such access into profitable businesses, like the real estate startup Zillow.com, which uses Microsoft’s maps. But a lot of others – and they were very evident in the hallways at the conference site at San Jose’s Fairmont Hotel – seem content to invent something clever, and then hope a big outfit (like the service providing the maps in the first place) buys them up.
The dot-com world has long been peopled by such hopefuls – and there are always examples to look to. This mapping mash-up field can offer the case of 3-D graphic artist Paul Rademacher, who has yoked together material from Craigslist and Google Maps to create HousingMaps.com, which enables renters and buyers look for homes by mapped location. Rademacher has been bought up by – guess who? -Â Google.
A few brave souls, however, say they are in it to preserve their independence. Di-Ann Eisnor, chief executive of Platial, a map-sharing site for people with mutual interests, said: “We’re thankful that Google opened up their technology so we could build a business off of them. But we have to believe we can compete with them.”
Eisnor, who describes the Platial customer-base as “mostly academic subcultures, like elephant trackers in Africa,” says her company should be profitable within a year.
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