“Spatial” Information SystemsEveryone knows what “geography” is. Perhaps that’s why people too often see GIS as nothing more than automated map management. Michael Gonzales’s article (“Seeking Spatial Intelligence,” January 20, 2000) suggests that removing the “G” from GIS might help to improve its industry image. Another idea: Replace “geographic” with “spatial,” for spatial information systems (SIS). As the article notes, “Spatial data is not about geography or maps; it’s about relationships and information just below the layer of numeric data.” But before we can enhance this numeric data (a company’s customer database, for instance) via GIS (or SIS), the database must be kept up-to-date, managed, and used effectively. In the seven years I have been using GIS for sales and marketing, I have found that many companies are not getting the most from their non-GIS data-bases and spreadsheets and, thus, cannot begin to appreciate the extra value that GIS could provide.
Ray Herzog Please congratulate Michael Gonzales on his article highlighting the enormous potential of data warehousing. I enjoyed the article’s depth and the vision because I have worked in the GIS field, first as an independent consultant, then as a product manager for MapInfo. (I ran Map-Marker for over a year, MapInfo Professional for about 9 months, and “dabbled” with Spatial-Ware, ex-System 9.) I have already imagined the possibility of “marrying” these technologies: Your article reinforces my feelings about this market! Thank you!
Jules Moyaert
Corporate Ranting and RavingJoe Celko’s article “The Day After New Year’s Day” (January 1, 2000) is little more than a routine pol- itical rant in defense of the power of the modern corporation. Is it possible that Celko wrote this article when he did because he was disturbed by the effectiveness of the protesters at the recent World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle? He is quick to accuse others of “fearing change,” but he protests too much! Could it be that Joe Celko is the one who fears change?
James E. Archer Joe Celko responds: I wrote the article months before the Seattle WTO meeting. We usually work with a three-month lead time and my beloved editor wanted that issue’s material in even earlier. I think I said that in the first paragraph, actually. If you had read a little further, I pointed out how fragile the large corporation has become. In fact, I favor the Hollywood model of flash enterprise — hardly the classic corporation of my father’s time. I also do not think the protesters were that effective. Internal problems among the members bogged the talks down more than anything else. The protesters managed to loot and burn a few stores, and hurt the downtown merchants’ Christmas season very badly, but Washington State has made tens of millions of dollars in profits from their increased world trade, so the people of Washington will finish up ahead on the whole. On the surface, it was funny to see protesters wearing clothing, driving cars, using cell phones, and breathing from medical advances that would never have come to market in an isolationist world. But at a deeper level, the so-called “anarchists” did not object to the mechanisms of central planning and control, but only to the fact that the armed might of the Nation State was not advancing their agenda. They truly favor the status quo, but argue only about the details. They have a definite idea as to what they want the future to be and are willing to crush an opposition to it. I have no idea what I will be doing 10 years from now, but I know I cannot imagine it now.
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