ArcGIS Online and Geoprocessing

Something doesn’t make sense here. I often have heard ESRI describe Web2.0 mapping as useful, but not really GIS. To be true GIS, ESRI claims, geoprocessing capability must be provided. But then when I look at ArcGIS Online (Beta), I don’t see any geoprocessing services. I thought I saw this demo’d somewhere, but don’t see anything. I suppose ESRI is working on this – otherwise the name should be changed to ArcData Online.

What I would really like to see is a way for ESRI Business Partners to author geoprocessing services and publish them onto ArcGIS Online. Partners should be allowed to specify a fee that is charged to the user when someone uses their GP service. Of course ESRI would get a percentage of this. I would also like to build geoprocessing services by chaining together other people’s services, maybe even following the chain of resposibility pattern.

A lot of business partners sell desktop (ArcView) for ESRI. At some point ArcGIS Online will be competing with these partners. By allowing partners the ability to author and publish geoprocessing tools on ArcGIS Online, they could continue to add value to ArcGIS.

Forecast: Cloudy

News.com has a good update on Cloud computing.

John M Willis has posted a helpful summary of cloud computing vendors.

He doesn’t mention Sun Grid. So what’s the difference between a cloud and a grid? Looks like I’m not the only one confused.

RFID for MyHouse

This is an elaboration of the MyHouse concept I mentioned in a previous post.

I’d like to have my pantry and refrigerator equiped with RFID so they know what is in stock. I would have a web page where I search for dinner recipes that are presented in a ranked fashion, ordered by how few extra ingredients I need to pick up from the store. In cases when I’m away from home I’d like an option to specify a path I normally travel home on. The web site would rank the recipes based on availability at stores along the path. Since I’m making a buying decision it could be fueled by ad revenue.

It seems like the CMU coke machine should have evolved into this already.