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Dick,
Perfectly put. Very few of us use anywhere near the potential of any
software; we learn what is necessary to do our tasks and complete our
mission.
It is great to be innovative but a couple of old expressions sum up the
risk..."The first guy on the beach gets the bullet" and "The
leading edge of the sword has the most nicks."
I like to remember the lesson of Levi Strauss. As thousands
gallumphed into the western horizon to grab the first chunk of gold, Levi loaded
his goods in a slow wagon team and followed to sell them the standard
commodities they would still need.
My cost of maintaining various editions of MI, with V
Mapper and data versus Maptitude and Surfer 6 and 7 and both product's
programming languages is 8 to 1. MI is around because my users had MI -
although no longer - ESRI made them a deal they couldn't refuse. So maybe I
won't upgrade. However if you have a job to do, saving money on software and
upgrades can certainly be a false economy. It of course depends on the job.
However, not every GIS user is a developer, or ever cares
to make a GIS app beyond using the programming language to automate their
own task to support. There are a lot of people who need almost industrial
strength GIS tools to work on particular problems and get things done.
Maptitude and Manifold could fill this void. What I hear from Manifold and
Maptitude sure indicates that they are not exactly stuck ... new things are
going to appear which I don't think ESRI or MI are capable of doing now
because they are "stuck" in a GIS paradigm that won't be here in 5
years.
Of courser, it depends on what you need to do, and I would
submit that a whole lot of people are spending $1400 when they could be
spending $400. Seems that MI is not exactly preparing for when folks figure
that out.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2000 3:06 PM
Subject: RE: MI Best GIS for dollar
> For what it's worth -
>
>
Overall, I have to agree that Maptitude is the best generic GIS value.
Great
> data set, good functionality, fabulous import/export
capability, built in
> routing, etc.
>
> But there are
still plenty of reasons to go with other more expensive packages.
>
> A major factor in deciding which GIS use for many of us is the 3rd
party tools
> available. Mapinfo and Arcview both have hundreds
of free public domain
> utilities and programs available, and dozens
more for sale. Practically any
> vertical market need a user
has, from site selection to watershed analysis, has
> been covered by
the third party developer and VAR channel.
>
> Maptitude is
really deficient here, even though the package has a good
>
programming language. Maptitude's sale price is so low that Caliper
can't
> afford to have a decent reseller program (nor have they ever
tried hard to
> cultivate one), which forces them to try to do
everything in-house. Hence, they
> have a good generic package,
but very little vertical market tools or
> penetration. Routing
applications are the one exception, which Caliper has
> developed
in-house.
>
> And there's something to be said for critical
mass. ESRI and Mapinfo have most
> of the market share, most of
the trained GIS users, and most of the installed
> base. If your
company is making mission critical decisions with GIS, and you
> need
to find trained GIS users with experience in your particular industry,
the
> extra expense of going with an established market leader is
inconsequential
> compared to the risk of making bad operational
decisions by trying to save a few
> bucks up front.
>
>
Berk Charlton
> Geographic Marketing Solutions.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of Leore, Robert
> > Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2000 9:41
AM
> > To: MapInfo-L
> > Subject: RE: MI Best GIS for
dollar
> >
> >
> > Maptitude by Caliper is the
best GIS for the dollar. At US$395 it is the
> > cheapest
path to a full-featured GIS. I used to use MI but I now use
>
> Maptitude and its big brother TransCAD exclusively. Check these
programs
> > out at www.caliper.com.
> >
> >
Bob
> >
> >
> >
> > > > Hi
Everyone,
> > > >
> > > > I have been reading
the threads on MI and ArcView in the same office and
> > >
am
> > > > interested in peoples opinions as to value.
I am considering purchase
> > > of a
> > > >
GIS but would like info on value vs functionality.
> > >
>
> > > > Can anyone suggest a GIS system that gives the
best 'bang for your buck'
> > > > for business applications
such as demographic studies, network analysis
> > > and
>
> > > has decent spatial modeling capabilities? Map Design and
layout
> > > > capabilities are important also.
> >
> >
> > > > I have used ArcInfo and ArcView but realise
there are other systems such
> > > as
> > > > MI,
Esri Atlas GIS and Manifold. Unfortunately, as everyone knows
many
> > > > systems lack basic functionality required to
complete a project and
> > > either
> > > > you
need to buy expensive 'add-on' modules or use a different program to
>
> > > complete the project.
> > > >
> >
> > For example, what does the Esri Atlas GIS give that you cannot do
with
> > > > ArcView and a business add-on? Manifold claims
it does way more than MI.
> > > > Are there users experienced
with several of these systems that could
> > > shed
> >
> > some light on the relative strengths and weaknesses of these
systems?
> > > >
> > > > Is one of these
systems head and shoulders above the rest?
> > > >
>
> > > Thanks in advance,
> > > >
> > >
> Shepherd Stewart
> > >
> >
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> >
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> >
>
>
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