Interesting point about the apparent complexity/scale of the Map/nHand
development. There are a number of developers that have products for PDA
data input/mapping that are not organisation size dependendant. In two cases
that spring to mind, Cybertracker, and the recently retitled MapPad (now
ArcPad) are low cost and are designed with a variety of end-users in mind.
Both are ESRI based products, and run on either Wince (ArcPad) or Palm OS
(Cybertracker) and are suitable for the small business application user.
Both applications are worth a look at. It is worth noting that ArcPad can be
used with MapInfo tables with not much trouble at all.
As an end user that has a limited budget, and staff/volunteers with limited
technical skills, any mobile application that is resource light gets my
vote. It has to be simple cheap and effective. An excellent example of
appropriate design for end users is CyberTracker. I've not yet seen any
other PDA GPS data acquisition package that was designed for illiterate
users!
As Neil says, I too will wait until Map/nHand hits the shops before making
final judgement.
Dale Appleton
-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Havermale [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, 22 August 2000 10:11
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
Subject: MI Oracle and MapInfo - Map/nHand?
This isn't a wish but a hope for consideration.....
In the scope of the PC/desktop and MapInfo I have attempted
to try to gain
the advantage of Oracle for our users - large multiple
million dollar farms
heavily capitalize and on the Net (33kb on good days). Via
emerging site
specific farming systems a 1000 acre farm can easily
generate a gigabyte of
foot by foot farming detail. I just know Oracle must be
better than
Microsoft's Access?
But every time I have tried to leverage MapInfo and Oracle
for our users,
buy the time you dig out the minimum that is needed the
Oracle/MapInfo
environment the configuration seems hopelessly expensive,
resource
demanding, and complex for any small business application
user to invest in.
There seems to be this macro-trend in MapInfo that unless
that user is a
Fortune 1000 scaled outfit, forget it?
The recent Map/nHand is a case in point; it seems really
neat up to the
point that a developer discovers you'll need 8i, all sorts
of Oracle JAVA
modules, MapXtream JAVA, a wireless network, and some
unknown number of
roving hooked-in PDAs. What about all those little
companies that have
fewer than ten field staff? Or what about those situations
where the
real-time radio connections are as yet unavailable? This
opportunity of
Map/nHand plus Oracle seems to escape the market that
brought MapInfo to the
GIS dance - the single stand alone or small office map user
needing easy to
use power to explore their data. Its their leverage to get
the same
leverage on the information age as the huge corporations...
I guess we will need to study Ma/nHand in detail once its
fully available
but I am concerned that all the nifty new opportunity that
MapInfo is
developing is poorly scaled to most of MapInfo's 200,000
users?
MidNight Mapper
aka Neil
Map/nHand Info......
MapInfo MapinHand provides a mobile connection to field
staff for real-time
access to corporate information displayed on interactive
maps, helping field
workers to better assess situations, to deliver the right
service solutions
and to update data on the spot. Additional benefits include:
* Mobility - Workers on the move can easily stay
connected to the
corporate database.
* Improved Efficiency - Field workers can make
better-informed
decisions by having accurate up-to-date information at hand,
eliminating the
need to return to the office to obtain information for
unscheduled,
emergency jobs.
* Updated, Accurate Databases - Field workers can send
updated
information on equipment or customer status to the corporate
database from
their PDAs.
* More Satisfied, Loyal Customers - Improved, faster
problem
resolution, better customer service and more reliable field
equipment leads
to satisfied, loyal customers.
* Packaged Solution - MapinHand is ready to go. No
additional
programming is required. MapinHand includes installation and
configuration
of the solution on the customer site.
Pricing and Availability
MapInfo MapinHand will be available in September and will be
priced based on
the number of handheld client devices. Pricing includes
installation,
configuration, customer support and product maintenance.
MapinHand runs on
Palm OS and Windows CE platforms.
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