Podcast: The Human Element in Geospatial Technology Hits the Mainstream
By Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg
April 03, 2007
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Take advantage of a special year-end sale on SPOTMaps, the 2.5 meter, seamless, color mosaic made to fit your area of interest. Save 25% off all SPOTMaps through November 10th, when you mention this ad! Click here for detailsAs we've been involved with or heard of GIS implementations around the world there's a recurring rejoinder: "It's not the technology preventing its implementation, but the people" which is short for politics, power and related issues. Now that geospatial technology is maturing and moving to the mainstream that same theme is popping up. And this week, we had some great examples, including the world's (and the U.S. government's) reaction to Google's changes to its Katrina area imagery.
The podcast is 15 minutes long (< 6 Mb) and was recorded on April 2, 2007.
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- House Committee Question Google's Change to NO Imagery (All Points Blog)
- Google Reverts to Pre-Katrina Imagery in NO, Angers Some (All Points Blog)
- About the New Orleans imagery in Google Maps and Earth (Official Google Blog)
- AOL's "Location" Software Raises Concerns Over Kids' Safety (First Coast News)
- Will Patent Threat Bust Real Estate Boom in Geospatial? (Directions Magazine)
- Global Locate Files Complaint Against SiRF, its Customers (All Points Blog)
- Web 2.0: The emerging voice (Express Computer Online)
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| I just listened to your PodCast and wanted to correct you on a statement that you made about the date of photography that Google publishes in Google map\earth. You said that there is a copyright with a year indicating when the photography was flown. I have noticed for sometime that the year that Google includes in the Copyright is not the year that the photography was taken, it's the current year (you will see a 2007 copyright on all data right now). I am often asked the same question about the date of the photography. I would like to see Google state the date of the data, both imagery and vector. I enjoy your articles and PodCasts. Keep up the good work! Nat Norton Manager, Corporate GIS Services Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. |
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| The question should be directed to GoogleEarth if that's even possible now. Before that company gets subjected to a fictitious conspiracy theory, and the potential for a Homeland Security investigation, has the problem been corrected? I'm aware that mappers, geographers, and many people in the world make mastakes (sp). However, has the media, anyone, bothered to contact GoogleEarth for a statement? Has the problem been assigned to the media, maybe 60 Minutes, Inside Edition, CNN, FoxNews, or just blogs, podcasts, and other circuitous chatter that doesn't deal directly with the source? I opened GoogleEarth, New Orleans, this morning and unless I'm mistaken the image currency appears to have been corrected, i.e., blue tarps on roof tops. I see a lot of blue tarps on the roof tops. Do we still need to know when that image was posted? The actual photo date of the New Orleans image would be helpful. Do we need an oversight committee with investigations by our elected officials, and recommendations to develop quality control standards, and government review of what gets published by Internet companies? Maybe that's the big picture, the intent of all this scrutiny, and the claim of subterfuge; if we ever believe a bogus explanation such as that we're part of the problem. Bottom line: Are all the New Orleans roofs repaired, all the blue tarps removed? I still see blue tarps; has New Orleans been repaired, to some degree. Has the city been restored, somewhat. We already know that. What agenda have we accomplished with the spotlight on an Internet mapping company which provides a global service to everyone, and for free? Sure, GoogleEarth could use a better method for reporting errors, photo dates, i.e., feedback, and user input; would we even have this conversation with the photo date posted? Probably. We need current information. We all make mistakes, accidental, some intentional; what's the intent of this company? Prove it! By all appearances GoogleEarth has corrected the item with or without the sensational attacks posted and without a reprimand of company employees who published the image; a fair, and good company decision despite a few barbs and conjectures, a tempest in a tea pot. We now suppose a proposed regulatory agency to review Internet companies, and services for protocol, QA/QC, would fix this problem; for example, a USGS government watchdog on GoogleEarth, and MSN Virtual Earth for that matter; then all Internet companies, and publishers, would be scrutinized as a solution; that's a solution? If you wish to forward any comments, errors, omissions, and solutions to GoogleEarth, be positive! We still need to focus on the victims of Katrina; that appears to be of secondary importance in this podcast, blog. We've wasted more time and energy on this topic than the topic deserves. Help in a positive way! |
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| The only potential conspiracy theory I see is the page sponsor of the subject podcast, MS Virtual Earth; think about that! |
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