On Thu, Jun 22, 2006 at 06:59:38PM -0500, Juan José Del Toro Madrueño wrote: > I don't know if this happened worldwide or just here in Mexico but, as some > of you may already have noticed, Google Earth has just added high resolution > imagery to new areas; the reason of this post is actually is a frustration > feeling and I'll explain this; as I was preparing a document where I was > trying to sell high resolution Imagery to a Municipality here in Mexico I > found out that Google Earth now has it in Quickbird Imagery; I know that in > GE (free version) you can't do ANY analysis to these images and that if they > bought from me the actual imagery they would have tons of benefits; but try > explaining that to a Municipal president who has a "Free" software that is > "giving" him the same images I was trying to sell the for "Free"; almost > impossible.
I reckon you're going to have to re-evaluate what you sell. If your potential client only wants the "eye candy" of a whizzy image, then Google has just eaten your lunch. (and proabably a few dinners too.) You can't beat "free." Now you're going to find out what "tons of benefits" is worth as you try to market the value of image analysis. Raw GIS data are a commodity, and the price has been dropping ever since the late Scott Elliot of Wessex cut the price of Census-derived data, royally pissing off both MapInfo and ESRI. No longer able to squeeze their golden goose selling easy-to-acquire data to an ignorant public, this eventually forced these GIS companies to develop MUCH better data sources and data analysis tools leaving the low hanging fruit to the hobbyist mappers and GIS start-ups. Forget data. The bigjobs have got that market pretty much rolled up. Concentrate instead on what you can do to turn data into information. That's where the golden goose is now. And unfortunately, some poeple who would have paid for it once, only want to look at the pictures, and now Google has got 'em. - Bill Thoen _______________________________________________ MapInfo-L mailing list MapInfo-L@lists.directionsmag.com http://www.directionsmag.com/mailman/listinfo/mapinfo-l
