‘It’s the people, not the cartographer drawing the maps today’
▻http://geospatialworld.net/Interview/ViewInterview.aspx?id=30754#sthash.1TpvlyzY.dpuf
Une opinion...
The wisdom of the entire society is helping us make a better map of the world, believes Michael T. Jones, Chief Technology Advocate, Google. The man who conceived Google Earth, then Keyhole Inc, sees maps becoming ubiquitous and as implicit as time in the near future
How has the concept of mapping evolved in the past few years?
It has evolved in two ways. There is a direct connection of mapping now in the lives of more than a billion people who use Google Maps and Google Earth every day. And it’s not just Google; the presence of maps in people’s daily lives has increased tremendously in the last 5-10 years. The second thing is maps have become a personal thing — they are not only about geography but also about restaurants or shops people want to visit. Today, it’s the people, and not the cartographer, asking the questions. Maps are interactive now, and users are also creators of maps. Like most things in technology, the new thing isn’t a new idea. It’s an old desire made possible by other new technologies. In this case, maps were popularised and consumerised through mobile devices.