NYT on Flickr and geotagging
2 November 2006 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | No comments
There was a cute (well, quirky anyway, and somewhat offensive to the geotagging community) and informative article on Flickr and geotagging in today's New York Times: "Pictures, With Map and Pushpin Included." The article defines geotagging, mentions different ways to do it, discusses EXIF headers and even mentions a product I use and endorse, RoboGEO. It also questions (and provides several different takes on) the rationale for geotagging:
Then why go to all the trouble of geotagging now? For some the payoff might be the feeling of satisfaction that comes from adding to the growing pool of location-tagged photos on sites like Flickr.
…
The stored location information and Web links created by these systems allow the photos to be displayed as an overlay on the digital maps. Similarly, geotagged photos can be searched by location rather than just by file name or time.
…
Mr. Butterfield has found that geotags already add valuable information to some kinds of photos. In particular he finds it useful when viewing photos of urban decay.
Despite the trouble (and it is a hassle, even with RoboGEO), I am solidly behind geotagging, given my background in GIS and community-asset mapping. I also endorse Flickr (even though it's owned by Yahoo!*) because of their amazing API and support for georeferencing (view my Flickr map).
* I have neither forgotten nor forgiven.
