Hi All, This is always a troublesome thread and is bound to get a range of howlers coming from all directions.
I would reiterate all the points made with regards to MapInfo's price point being lower, the learning curve much shallower and the speed paradigm. I would however question the more powerful comment that came up. I dont think MapInfo can be considered more powerful. I wouldn't say it was less either, rather that it has different strengths and weaknessess. I would suggest that someone in that decision making team had the insight and forethought to assess what your business needs were, and what software offered the best long term solution for those needs. Mark my words that is a VERY rare trait. It is amazing how often teams decide on a product like ArcInfo because "thats what the university had when I went there" or "John Smith and Co use it". MapInfo and extensions can meet the needs of most enterprises. You could argue that most other software providers do to. However it takes a good team or individual to look through marketing blurb or corporate lines and understand the processes of their own organisation and how the various GIS vendors can meet the needs of those processes. ESRI have a remarkable marketing machine. I agree that most people who use ArcInfo would be better serviced with other products. However it must be noted that workstation ArcInfo and MapInfo are poles apart in operation. ArcGIS, interestingly enough, looks more and more like MapInfo every day. When you have such software differences on the outside, but fewer differences in capability, it is more a question of comfort zones. The issues are more often psychological than technilogical. The moral of this story then becomes: You had some clever decision makers. Thats my $0.02 Cheerio, Stu Bell GIS Product Manager Frontier Mapping ----- Original Message ----- From: "Uffe Kousgaard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, 5 September 2002 08:39 Subject: Re: MI-L MapInfo v. ArcInfo > In my opinion it is like comparing MS Word with some fancy DTP program. > ArcInfo is more expensive, more difficult to use and most users don't ever > need the extra facilities. Facilities which can most often be bought as > add-ons anyway. > > ArcInfo Desktop is really back to the days of the DOS prompt and cryptic > commands. > > ArcGIS is more like MapInfo, but also very pricy and the facilities of the > base ArcView 8.x version are quite limited. > > ArcView 3.x is so full of "segmentation violations" that it sometimes is a > nightmare to work with. > > It is only in some very specific situations like simultaneous editing of > datasets, that ArcGIS has a role to play. > > Regards > Uffe Kousgaard > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Evan MacDougall [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 2:44 PM > > To: MapInfo-L E-mail List (E-mail) > > Subject: MI-L MapInfo v. ArcInfo > > > > > > People, > > Ok, i know this question has been discussed before, but I suddenly have a > > burning need for more answers. Our company chose to use MapInfo because > of > > some partnerships we had. Now, 4 or 5 years later, and after all the > people > > who made that decision have left the company, I am supposed to be able to > > say why. So, that leads to my question (2 parts) below. > > > > Why would I want to use MapInfo rather than ArcInfo? And the second part > > of that questions is, why would I have chosen to use MapInfo over ArcInfo > 4 > > or 5 years ago? > > > > Much appreciation in advance for any answers to this (2 part) question. > > > > -Evan MacDougall ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > GIS Supervisor > > DPSI (formerly ACE USA Flood Services) > > (310)342-3600 / (800)736-3109 - ext. 3681 > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Message number: 2819 > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Message number: 2820 > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Message number: 2823 > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Message number: 2824 > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message number: 2828 > --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 2831
