Women in Technology

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Article:		Open Source Paradigm Shift
Subject:		user participation in trafficdodger.com
Date:		2004-06-22 22:44:16
From:		yogimind

Now consider a counter-example. MapQuest is another pioneer that created an innovative type of web application that almost every Internet user relies on. Yet the market is shared fairly evenly between MapQuest (now owned by AOL), maps.yahoo.com, and maps.msn.com (powered by MapPoint). All three provide a commodity-business powered by standardized software and databases. None of them have made a concerted effort to leverage user-supplied content, or engage their users in building out the application. Dear Tim, my company has a website for doing real time routing based on current traffic conditions, and I'm interested to hear how you think we might be able to introduce user participation into the paradigm. Think of it as a step up from the static routing provided by mapquest et al. http://www.trafficdodger.com Your insight into this would be most appreciated. The cost of the map data alone represents a significant cost in exploring this concept on a national scope (were currently routing localized to LA county). I'd love an opportunity to spin and grow this into something of overwhelming utility ala google. Kind Regards Yogi