Thursday, December 13, 2007

Microsoft takes more mapping baby steps.

If your a dinosaur, like me, you will remember how long it took Microsoft to get into the Internet. Then, bang, a free browser and away they went.

Certainly one of the biggest tech developments of the past few years has been online and mobile mapping. Again Microsoft lagged behind but they've slowly been picking up speed first with Streets and Trips and recently with Maps Live. OK, they're not Google Maps and Google Earth but they're moving ahead.

Why is this important? A great many governments and agencies are committed Microsoft technologies and one stop shopping will have its' appeal (see this recent post). With the recent acquisition of Multimap Redmond is slowly building up its' expertise in how to serve up GIS information. This will inevitably go beyond the individual consumer and include government/security clients. Nothing says situational awareness like a good annotated map.

Sources: Various and cited.
Photo: 1 Microsoft Way on Google Maps

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