Re: Acacia patent interactive mapping ..

[Andrew Halliwell]

Doug Mentohl <doug_mentohl@linuxmail.org> wrote:
> This patented technology generally relates to interactive maps and can 
> be used to provide user-generated data, such as places of interest or 
> reviews, over the Internet ..
> 
> http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2203784/

Well... there's plenty of prior art there.
One example is the doomsday book project from the 1980s in the uk.
pretty much the whole of the uk was mapped with interactive content and
video added relating to specific places.

It was a bit like a precursor to google earth.

It existed on 2 laser disks connected to either BBC or RM machines. (you had
to switch disks when you went to certain places... think it was a
north/south thing, but it's been 25 years so I could be wrong there)

There was one in the local library. I remember using it quite a lot to plan
journeys. It was better than road maps because you could view aerial photos
too. 

The only thing not covered by this is "over the internet"...
But google maps has been around for years which covers that one.
And of course, google earth, which does everything doomsday project did on
disk via the internet and more.
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