[Geowanking] Geophysics vs. Geography: Why does one love geowanking and the other not so much?

[Sean Gillies]

Sean.Gorman at fortiusone.com wrote:
> I would not normally spam the list with one of my own blog posts, but I'd love to get thoughts from the list on the topic.
> 
> http://blog.fortiusone.com/2008/11/14/geophysics-vs-geography-divergent-viewpoints-on-the-geoweb/
> 
> In short it seems the geophysicists have really embraced geowanking type things - check out their special session on spinny globes:
> 
> http://conferences.images.alaska.edu/agu/2008/index.htm
> 
> Now compare this to Mike Goodchild's quote in the latest ArcNews:
> 
> “In 2005, Google Earth was released, and people with little or no background in GIS, geography, or cartography began using it and other similar services to discover the power of map making. Some even began calling themselves neogeographers. Suddenly it was possible to do some powerful things with geospatial data without committing to what was often a difficult and lengthy learning process….But mistakes (by neogeographers) were and are being made, as often happens when powerful technology is put in the hands of people with little background in its underlying concepts and little experience in thinking critically about its products.”
> 
> I have a lot of respect for Mike's academic work but this seemed a bit over the top.
> 
> Any thoughts or response?
> 
> best,
> sean

I suspect we'd see somewhat different attitudes if an easy-to-use
climate modeling application that is to the CCSM as Google Earth is to
Arc* were unleashed on the public. Google Earth is disruptive to GIS, it
isn't disruptive to geophysicists. I sympathize.

Still, the length and difficulty of the GIS learning process is being
exaggerated, don't you think?

Sean (still suffering from Post Navier-Stokes Stress Disorder)



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