Recently active topics in Platial

I've already said here that I think Platial/Nearby has a huge potential. Sure there are other services/applications available on the web, and for the iPhone/Touch which incorporate maps and allow us to identify, narrate, and share the important places in our lives, but Platial seems unique in its dedication to the concept of 'place' and emphasis on maps.

In my opinion, this is both a blessing and a curse.

The Good

Because it is so 'map-centric', Platial stands to benefit more from improvements to online maps and related software (increasingly sophisticated APIs, etc.).

Platial may be truer to what many users want from a map service. Without all of social networking hooks which are becoming redundant cliched, Platial comes closer to something like an extension of the APIs for a service like Google Maps, allowing everyone to take advantage of the increasing sophistication of these great tools, which allow us to appreciate the our place in the world.

Precisely because of this approach, which doesn't try to be a complete social networking destination, Platial is in many ways complementary to other services, like Yelp for example. The idea of multiple complimentary services is seems more consistent with the spirit of the web than monolithic sites that attempt to co-opt the web, and which can only succeed by utterly dominating the playing field. Ultimately what's at stake is no less than the future of the web itself.

The Bad

Having said all that, the team will need to work at making Platial the great service it has the potential to be. And there are some big issues to consider. A service like Platial is difficult to pull off because of inherent limitations of the underlying services, the nature of the Web, and the scope of the problem.

There are 6.5 billion people on the planet, and the world is large enough to accommodate all of us. So, there are a lot of places out there. Of course the other, more difficult issue, related to scale is the density of place. How can we represent the many thousands of places that all exist in a small geographical area. Simply throwing them all on a map at one time is certainly not an option. Still we want to be able to explore all of these places in an elegant, intuitive way. It's a tough problem requiring creative thinking.

I can only hope that the folks about Platial are continuing to evaluate Platial in a much broader way than simply fixing bugs, making incremental changes to the look of the site, and tacking on features. I've played with Platial and Nearby enough to know that there is quite a bit of work to do. Losing sight of the larger goals for the amount of time it will take to solve pressing issues may not be good for Platial in the long term. Please tell me that you (the Platial team) are setting aside an appropriate amount of time, on a regular basis, to consider fitness of purpose in a broad sense, from architecture to UI.

Aside

Just today the developers of the MMO "Fury" announced that they will be shutting down the game tomorrow night. Here's the most heartbreaking part of what is a pretty wrenching forum post.

To the Auran team, who put their heart and soul into making Fury, thanks for your efforts. As I said many times before, we need to be much better than the competition to have a chance of succeeding. We gave it everything we had and history now judges that it still wasn’t good enough.

Did I ever play Fury? No. This hurts anyway. Of course, stories like this are all to common. A service like Platial is similar to an MMO in that it only really makes sense in the long term. Here's hoping for the absolute best for Platial.

So why did I post this? I can't help but feel that as someone participating in the forums I'm sending the wrong message and distracting the team from the truly important work that must be done. So I wanted to post a reminder to always remember to see the forest through the trees. (Also, I'm procrastinating in doing my own work :)

A while ago I wrote a Google Maps tutorial and I started it with a quotation which I find to be particularly inspiring. I'd like to end this with the same quote:

A scholar who never travels but stays at home is not worthy to be accounted a scholar. From my youth on I had the ambition to travel, but could not afford to wander over the three hundred counties of Korea, much less the whole world. So, carrying out an ancient practise, I drew a geographical atlas. And while gazing at it for long stretches at a time I feel as though I was carrying out my ambition . . . Morning and evening while bending over my small study table, I meditate on it and play with it and there in one vast panorama are the districts, the prefectures and the four seas, and endless stretches of thousands of miles.

WON HAK-SAENG

Korean Student

Preface to his untitled manuscript atlas of China during the Ming Dynasty, dated 1721.

What Platial Features do you use most?

* making maps
* adding places using the business look-up
* adding places using the bulk upload tool
* adding places by address
* putting pictures on places
* putting maps on other websites

* looking for interesting places

* finding interesting maps
* zooming around and looking at Places on maps

* Other stuff

I just approved a marker on my map but I don't see it. Does it take a while or should it appear right away?

Do you know od some really cool maps or are you making an awesome map? Let us know. We like to feature good maps in our blog.

Do you have questions about the map you've embeded on your blog or website? Ask them here.