A recent article by Adena over at All Points Blog mentions that some folks don’t “get it”.
Having been on the Google Earth Community BBS when the first Sketchup model appeared, I definitely see the value. Sketchup is a great tool for creating 3d models–my city’s planning department uses it extensively–but its audience has typically been limited to professionals because of the price tag.
I think that Google is smart enough to see why they need companies like @Last as part of their competitive strategy. Here’s a quote from an article about the acquisition of GeoTango based on an interview with Stephen Lawler of Microsoft
SilverEye and Smart Digitizer are particularly interesting because they allow “everyone to be a data creator,” as Lawler put it. They allow the public to contribute “local knowledge” for the greater good. Of course for Microsoft that means contributing, in time, both opinion (a restaurant review) and location information (where the restaurant is, or where that new street is) to Windows Live Local.
If Google is going to truly compete in this market, they need to make tools available that empower citizen-publishers. If they do this right, perhaps they will be able to build a “geo-web”, where users provide the content and Google provides the platform (and advertising of course).
Of course, the other possibility is that I’m letting my desire for a reduction in the price of Sketchup affect my reasoning…
