I thought it was best to sleep on my thoughts for day 1 of the conference to contemplate what I have heard… I’m still trying to get over seeing AutoCAD and Intergraph GeoMedia demonstrated on Mainstage at a ESRI UC – that’s real interoperability for you.
Many people I have spoken to were a little disappointed by the lack of “new” stuff, as many people were already aware of the functionality in ArcGIS 9.2 at least from a desktop point of view. The Big story here however is one of consolidation around desktop, but the new stuff is all around the Server products and the wider GeoWeb vision.
I not sure everybody really “gets” what this means or the real impact of this.. In many ways the focus on servers is a more fundamental shift in thinking than the move to ArcGIS from Arc/Info, but initially for the vast majority of users at the UC whose only experience is off the desktop products this may all seem a little remote.
As I noted on Sunday, the GeoWeb vision will not be a easy ride, there are many issues to resolve not only the technology, but there is no doubt about Jack and ESRI’s commitment to it.
Written and submitted from the Wyndham San Diego Hotel, using a local open wifi network.