Now this may seem a rather strange question to ask, but please bear with me for a minute. A recent survey found that most people were unaware of the similarity in chemical content of branded headache products and their generic alternatives. This particular study found that each product is given a specific code which ensures that it meets specific standards and contains correct levels of aspirin or paracetamol per tablet. So a branded product would have the same code on its packaging as the generic product indicating that it was more or less of the same quality and potency. The main differences between the branded product and the generic were packaging and price. The branded products often made claims which according to this study often exaggerated the ability of the product to quickly cure a headache because of the special formulation unique to the brand. The reality was that both branded and generic contained almost identical ingredients. They both primarily relied on either the aspirin or paracetamol element to relieve the headache. So why do people buy branded headache products when they have a price difference as high as 300% to 400% over the generic brands? The study showed that in most cases consumers were unaware that the generic product offered similar results to the more expensive branded option. Most consumers who were informed of the facts said they would buy the generic option from now on.
Now we have covered that point let's move on to proprietary software versus open source software. Recently I provided a client with advice on how to carry out every day GIS tasks on Quantum GIS. The client had been using MapInfo for many years in his former employment. He now had started his own business and wanted to use Quantum GIS to perform similar tasks that had previously been performed in MapInfo. Previously to becoming self employed he had enjoyed the benefits of an IT department which had taken full responsibility for his GIS requirements. Everything had been set up in MapInfo so all he had to do was use a predefined set of maps and print templates to achieve his aims. Initially he was not too impressed with Quantum GIS because it was not like MapInfo in many respects. In fact Quantum GIS is more like ArcGis than MapInfo in my view. Anyway, he had almost reached the point where he was considering buying a copy of MapInfo because of the problems he had with using Quantum GIS. Fortunately he allowed me to spend a day with him and I was able to show him that he could easily achieve all that he needed with Quantum GIS. I also think that if he had bought MapInfo he would still have had the problems he had encountered with Quantum GIS. This was because he would still have had to set up the appropriate map environment and print templates. Because of this he would have struggled as his knowledge of MapInfo was confined to the set up provided by his former employer. He lacked the necessary training in MapInfo to enable him to create this environment from scratch.
His predicament is quite common in that we probably only ever need perhaps 20% or 30% of the capabilities of a software program to achieve our goals. Sometimes the amount of functionality available within a desktop GIS, which is there to meet as many eventualities as feasible, can seem overwhelming to the casual user. I define the casual user as someone who uses GIS in the performance of their employment on say a weekly or monthly basis. Such casual users can be put off if the GIS seems complicated to use. Unlike some personal computer software I do not believe GIS desktop systems have yet reached the stage where they are intuitive. Unless you are given some fundamental training in what a GIS can do in a particular scenario the casual user will struggle and probably give up. Unfortunately many organisations have GIS systems which are being under utilised because not enough people are aware of the potential of these systems. Training on a particular application may consist of merely showing someone how the software works in a fifteen or twenty minute demonstration. Of course this may cover how to do a particular task such as print a map or perform a query. However the user of the software would not be able to perform other tasks because of a lack of understanding of how the software functions.
So back to the headache conundrum. If your choice of headache tablet prior to reading this was driven by clever advertising and not by hard evidence could you also be missing out on the potential of open source software like Quantum GIS? Through assuming that because it is free it cannot be as effective as the proprietary offerings may lead you to missing out on a viable alternative to such systems. Well, evaluating Quantum GIS is a cost free option and a worthwhile exercise as it could enable your organisation to extend the use of GIS to departments that currently cannot justify having a budget for a proprietary GIS.
His predicament is quite common in that we probably only ever need perhaps 20% or 30% of the capabilities of a software program to achieve our goals. Sometimes the amount of functionality available within a desktop GIS, which is there to meet as many eventualities as feasible, can seem overwhelming to the casual user. I define the casual user as someone who uses GIS in the performance of their employment on say a weekly or monthly basis. Such casual users can be put off if the GIS seems complicated to use. Unlike some personal computer software I do not believe GIS desktop systems have yet reached the stage where they are intuitive. Unless you are given some fundamental training in what a GIS can do in a particular scenario the casual user will struggle and probably give up. Unfortunately many organisations have GIS systems which are being under utilised because not enough people are aware of the potential of these systems. Training on a particular application may consist of merely showing someone how the software works in a fifteen or twenty minute demonstration. Of course this may cover how to do a particular task such as print a map or perform a query. However the user of the software would not be able to perform other tasks because of a lack of understanding of how the software functions.
So back to the headache conundrum. If your choice of headache tablet prior to reading this was driven by clever advertising and not by hard evidence could you also be missing out on the potential of open source software like Quantum GIS? Through assuming that because it is free it cannot be as effective as the proprietary offerings may lead you to missing out on a viable alternative to such systems. Well, evaluating Quantum GIS is a cost free option and a worthwhile exercise as it could enable your organisation to extend the use of GIS to departments that currently cannot justify having a budget for a proprietary GIS.
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