Consumer Geospatial Products

At a recent Mobile Marketing event in Munich, Intermap presented their AccuTerra iPhone application. I know this because it was reported to me by a friend and mobile marketing insider who was aware that Intermap is a Definiens business partner. He thought Accuterra looked great and had big potential. I've not conducted a thorough evaluation, however, at first glance I do agree.

My friend's perspective on the application is important because he is not an geo-industry insider: he's a consumer. He does not know or care what goes into delivering the Accuterra product. The technical details, in fact, would probably only tarnish the excitement. And I think that is somewhat typical for consumer geo-products.

The Accuterra website reflects that understanding. They have a groovy interface greeting site visitors which is unmistakably consumer-oriented. I applaud Intermap for not being boring, putting together an entertaining site, and focusing directly on the consumer market they are after. I also like their bravery in making the Intermap brand only an afterthought, instead of trying to push a corporate brand onto a market that does not know (or care about) the brand at all.

Of course, Google Earth or Tom Tom are leading examples of how popular consumer geo-products can really become. And of course, this is only the beginning. While the business-to-business (or business-to-government) market continues to grow, the business-to-consumer geo-products market is just getting started and the potential is enormous. The next years should prove very interesting as early entrants bring new products and test consumer readiness.