http://www.jasonbirch.com/nodes/2009/02/19/278/dear-google-maps/

My point exactly – we’re making headway, but there’s lots of room for improvement. Unfortunately, since Google “owns” search, we’re really waiting for them to a) solve the problem or b) buy someone who has.

Cheers,

Dave

I think that one area that still requires a lot of work is spatial “deep search” and indexing. Google has made headway with it’s indexing of KML files/services, but this is still extremely limited as compared to the deep search for textual information. In additon to sorting out how to effectively spider and index the “dark” geoweb, some simple things need to be addressed, like should relevant spatial data show up in a normal search?

Also – I think that Real-Time GIS is going to learn a lot from, or be pushed aside by the gaming industry. Take any current multi-player, net connected game, and you have all the aspects of a multi-stakeholder, real-time GIS – but it’s all fake. Wire that same pervasive environment to real-world spatial data, and situational awareness makes a giant leap forward. Of course there’s way more money in games than in GIS…

Cheers,

Dave