>>>>> "J" == James Rogers <jamesr@best.com> writes:
J> ...  They aren't selling the software, which is pretty pricy as
J> it happens.  They are using it to optimize next generation
J> wireless canopies over metro areas and fiber networks on a
J> large scale.  There are an essentially infinite number of metro
J> wireless configurations, some of which generate far more dead
J> or marginal spots and others which are very expensive to
J> operate (due to backhaul transit considerations) or both.  This
J> software can be used as a tool to optimize the canopy coverage
J> and minimize the actual transit costs since the wireless is
J> tied into fiber at multiple points.
So you only need to map a handful of metropolitan areas?
J> Or at least investors find this capability very sexy and
J> compelling
Ah ... now /that/ I will believe :)
Don't mind me; I'm just getting even more cynical in my old age.
--
Gary Lawrence Murphy <garym@teledyn.com> TeleDynamics Communications Inc
Business Advantage through Community Software : http://www.teledyn.com
"Computers are useless.  They can only give you answers."(Pablo Picasso)

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On 9/8/02 8:09 PM, "Gary Lawrence Murphy" <garym@canada.com> wrote:
> My car is only just over 1.5 meters across and maybe 3 meters long, so
> that means roughly six pixels total surface area.  You might find a
> 16-wheeler this way, but how often do people misplace a 16-wheeler
> such that it is _that_ important to get old images of the terrain?
> Since they can't send up aircraft to update images in realtime every
> time, how is this different from just releasing the map on DVDs?  Why
> wireless?
It seems that several people are missing the point that this is NOT an image
database.  It is high-resolution topological data rendered in three
dimensions.  Images are overlayed on the topological data to help people
navigate familiar terrain visually.  In other words, it is not intended as a
wannabe spy satellite.  Rather it is a very accurate three dimensional model
of the earth's surface.  When a particular region in question is covered in
a city, the buildings in the city are mapped as though they are part of the
earth's surface.  The part that makes the app killer is that you can map all
sorts of data layers on top of their core topological data.
Got it?
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com