I don't think so by: MidNight_Mapper For all you MAPS doom-sayers I would suggest you consider that our GIS industry is about to get a "new deal". Why? If you are actually following what is going on in our GIS industry, you'll know that the dominate high end GISer companies are ESRI (50 percent) and Intergraph (25-30 percent market share). Even 50 percent market revenue share ESRI (its getting smaller in $ % and seat terms) can only give away FREE software for so long (AkeExploiter) before our buddies over in the anti-trust group take interest - heck even Microsoft is going to charge for their map viewer MapPoint ($119). And Intergraph is killing itself by just doing the wrong things at the wrong time; their GIS division may already be on the market. And ESRI seems to be folding to Microsoft domination just like Intergraph has. Their days are numbered for a business model dominated by the easy sale $30,000 seat 'cause the government and uni boys "just needed hot rod SUNs and UNIX". Its sales of WinTel AkeView at $995 and their wobbly down-sized Analysts codes that support it are not making the outfit as happy as it once was. And its going to be harder and harder for the AkeView SHP file users to justify $3000 add-ons even with an emerging ESRI/Microsoft Visual BASIC design (COM when it should be CORBA) sometime next year. But mostly the un-holy trinity of SUN-ESRI-ORACLE that kept ESRI dominate over the Oracle data sets is now breaking apart due to several reasons: - LINUX is encroaching on SUN workstation shops and all of its proprietary designs and OS - Heck even Microsoft is worried about the LINUX "LinTel" effect - Oracle is porting 8i to LINUX and 8i is available today on NT - There are MANY big and little GIS outfits on NT - JAVA is the proverbial Genie out of the bottle that is now freely available on LINUX - MapInfo is way out in front on the GIS-Java-Internet integration - Oracle has a new core "Internet Optimized" design via 8i and its "Spatial" cartridge replacing the SDO/SDE model. - And MapInfo via Oracle8i/Spatial + Spatialware + MapXtreamJAVA/Mapx/Professional will be in-sync and integrated for developers and MapInfo's 300,000+ users very, very soon (like June). - ESRI hopes to deliver its "VisualBasic-ized" COM redesign sometime next year. Maybe Bill will buy Jack out? When Oracle internalized the spatial indices into their core of 8i it ended the SDE/SDO design. By adding the 8iSpatial Cartridge you pretty much get "spatial" SQL compliant ODBC for "$995". (Hmmmmm..... I can just smell those Mapping Centers now.) Add MapInfo's Spatialware to the Oracle8i/Spatial data system to fully extend all of Oracle's spatial data qualities and users and developers of MapInfo products get new opportunities. Importantly MapInfo is soon to release its Professional, MapX, MapXtream, and MapXtream/JAVA - ALL Oracle8i-ized - products in June. Try a free download Beta of MapInfo Professional 5.5 at: http://testdrive.mapinfo.com/mipro As this news gets out to the GIS community and it sinks in a bit more watch MAPS. Maybe even Oracle might have an eye on MAPS. My best guess is they are about to turn in another good quarter even before the ORACLE effect takes off. And if you have been watching, the 22nd just might be a good day to catch the wave. Oh and buy the way, the Oracle 8i/Spatial feature is "open" to all GISes (including Microsoft, Intergraph, ESRI, and even Chicago Maps) - its just MapInfo will be there first with the best and most "integrated" Oracle/JAVA/Internet solution. Think about it a bit. Want to read more ? http://www.oracle.com/database/options/spatial/index.html http://www.mapinfo.com/welcome/mi_oracle/index.html FWIW MidNight Mapper aka Neil 4/22/99 ***** Latest NEWS FLASH **** http://www.mapinfo.com/corporate_info/press/q299_pr.html "MapInfo Corporation Announces Second Quarter 1999 Results Operating Income Increases 80%; EPS up 39%" *************************************************
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