Russell,
Your comment regarding ESRI penetrating the academic market echoes of
another marketing battle between Microsoft, Wordperfect, Lotus and Borland.
Quite simply, Microsoft used a strategy (coupled w/ it's Windows 3.x
strongarm tactics)of marketing their software to universities as being "more
compatible" with windows. Universities added courses for Word and Excel in
lieu of courses in Wordperfect and Lotus123. Not only did MS gain a foothold
in academia by getting instruction offered, they offered their full MS
Office suite to students to use on their home PCs at 1/4 the cost of the
regularly priced software. Microsoft ensured the future workforce would be
disposed to MS-Office products vs the competition.
ESRI has stolen a page from Microsoft's playbook. Offering "Certified ESRI"
instructor courses to teaching professionals who in turn marketed their
certification to schools, resulting in hundreds of AV courses and thousands
of trained students. Furthermore, ESRI offered full versions of it's AV
software at a huge discount to academia. Meanwhile ESRI has succeeded in
it's government marketing not only by offering large software programs which
are expensive and difficult to learn (which Government guys like for some
reason), but also by making available a trained workfore fresh out of the
universities. These marketing efforts, Coupled with the new ArcGIS 8.1
paradigm (which interestingly takes some of the best features of MapInfo
Professional) shouldn't leave one wondering how ESRI is surpassing MI with
what is by most standards, up to now, inferior software.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawley, Russell S [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2001 5:00 AM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: MI-L skills and markets
Denn
spot on.... I got used to being described as a 'lightweight GIS developer'
because i concentrated on mapinfo rather tha AV many years ago, and i know
that it has negatively affected my CV in recent job applications because of
a pervasive feeling in UK local government and academia that somehow Av,
and av skills are vastly 'superior'. I believe MAPINFO has really suffered
in UK; ESRI were shrewd enough to work out that academia is where it all
starts, government is where its regulated and everywhere else is where it
ends up.
As a result of this I am now having to 'join' the ARCXXX8 bandwagon, ( but
i have to say the departure of ESRI 'Views' and 'themes', and the arrival of
'Maps' and 'layers', and 'on the fly projections' and the removal of yards
and yards of mouse mileage, etc is making this rather easy for me........
regards
r
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