GIS Demos Means there is an iPAQ Nearby

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=256">http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=256</a><br /><br />This is an interesting interview about how HP has a lock on the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) hardware business and how the iPAQ Pocket PC plays a critical role in that strategy. They even have some interesting deals for the <a href="http://www.esri.com/industries/homelandsecurity/special_offers.html">US Government and Homeland Security</a>. The "ArcPad" refers to an iPAQ 3800 with special software.

[golfingtigger]

I have an iPaq 3835 and I am about the only one who realizes how neat this technology is.

I work for a local City Government and we use a lot of GIS, particularly AcrView GIS. The way it works is you Geocode information into a database, this is the technology used by groups like MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) and MapBlast (www.mapblast.com).

Here's where it gets cool, I have a database that keeps track of all the garage sale permits sold and it correlates with a database of addresses and plots them on the map. The whole thing, using ArcPad (a Pocket PC version of ArcView) gets transferred to the PDA and then investigators can verify that there are no illegal postings related to them.

I'm just scratching the surface on its usefullness, though.