Dear Mappers,
Since 2005, Platial has worked to pave the way for a world which can be viewed from the eyes of its citizens, "The People's Atlas". To date, between Platial and Frappr, over 5MM maps have been created. Our members maps are visible on over 500,000 sites around the web and each one of them allows content to be added directly.
Our members have amassed a significant amount of geo-data and brought social mapping to the web at large. The Platial Nearby iPhone application has been downloaded 450,000 times! We are retiring the site because we just can't afford to keep it up any longer. The team has been volunteering for 18 months. However, it will morph into something more extraordinary, more efficient and more in line with the possibilities and technology of 2010 and beyond. We don't have the full picture yet, but we will let you know once we have a realistic picture.
Some of our favorite maps...
http://platial.com/mapawards/2007
http://platial.typepad.com/news/2006/12/this_year_nearl.html
Our efforts, the efforts of our partners like Google + GeoCommons, our investors and mostly our user community created an entirely new way for people to interact and engage with maps. We raised the bar for the idea of mash-up and allowed the entire ecosystem to flourish with millions of users creating maps. We remain bullish on social maps and on the future of location based services and technology.
All of the content will be stored at GeoCommons.com
If you're looking for a new map widget, Google MyMaps offers one. It is not two-way, meaning your users cannot YET contribute but it is a very easy way to map and share maps.
Everyone of us is keeping this movement in social mapping and neogeography alive. Tracy is at Nokia Maps, Jake is at Motorolla, I am working on a fully crowd-sourced, real-time navigable map of the world at Israeli start-up, Waze. Chris and Jason are innovating like mad in social maps, AR and more.
Documenting the Movement:
Original Wired story on the movement by Analee Newitz
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/03/70419
Original NPR story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5330820
My recent TEDx talk on the importance of the movement on diplomacy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjXSQsZxRys&feature=youtu.be&a
Platial was a movement and it will be carried on a thousand fold. It is real and irrevocable. It put the power of maps in the hands of people and lets us see the world as an interconnected tapestry of stories and perspectives.
Sincerely, Di-Ann Eisnor
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