Without going too far down the road of "Free" versus
"Enhanced" data, I would like to make a few points if I could.
I'm a former employee of the now non-existent BLR Data in Tucson, AZ. For
eight years BLR Data conceptualized products that would make an impact in the
GIS Industry. For the sake of being brief I will not spend time
illustrating what BLR Data did well and what they did poorly, but suffice it to
say, that nowhere else in the industry could you purchase a data product and
then have the entire company at your fingertips. Customers would call and
mention that the products were not up to their standards, and BLR Data would go
to extreme lengths to ensure that the customer was ultilmately happy. If
the happiness of the customer meant that 15 people would spend two weeks
updating the cartographic feaures, adding new roads, and improving geocoding
performance, then that's what BLR Data would do. Eventually, these
improvements were passed on to other paying customers.
Free data will always be what it is.
Free. No improvements. No bells. No whistles. When GDT
purchased BLR Data, I can only assume that they intend to carry on the tradition
that BLR Data had started. When you buy "Enhanced" Data
products, you buy support, technical assistance, and ultimately you buy peace of
mind. Resellers ("Mapinfo Partners") know this better than
anyone.
Without carrying on endlessly, what is
appropriate and economical for one company, may not be for another.
Sometimes $149.00 will have to do when you don't have $50,000.00
Ian Erickson
Summit Geographics
