Sean Gorman has a very thought provocative piece on his blog this morning. The Professional vs. the Amateur: Thoughts on the ESRI UC should be read by everyone. I’ve notice that our tribe mentality has really caused great divisions in those of us trying to bring spatial information to the Internet. I’ve learned something in the years I’ve been blogging here, I am just an amateur at just about everything I do. Sure I have a GISP, but that doesn’t mean that I’m any better at moving to the GeoWeb than anyone else (heck I’m probably less able to do that than others). Because of this I’ve been more open to Neogeographers (those on the ground, not locked up in a University writing about it) and I’ve learned so much in the last couple years.
Any time there is something disruptive as the GeoWeb/Web 2.0/Where 2.0/GeoCloud you end up with people circling the wagons in a failed attempt to control what is happening. Closed source, open source, free as in beer, GISP, geotagger, whatever are just labels we put on ourselves, products or philosophy to limit our growth and the growth of others. Don’t make me break out the hippy girl picture again and ask why can’t we all get along?
Now you’ve done it, let us all sit in the field and hold hands
