Mobile and Visual: A Picture Really is Worth a Thousand Words

I spend a lot of time analyzing the emergence of trends in info management, info technology, library science, etc. and two recent forces are beginning to dominate the newsfront: Mobile Technologies and Visualization. I've worked with and talked to clients about both, but every day the technology news, and more and more, the popular news, confirms the importance of this duo in how all of us go about our daily activities. The latest domain designation of .mobi is certainly one indicator that mobile technologies are coming into their own. It's a huge market and growing fast. Visualization has always been touted as a critical factor in creating understanding of complex ideas, but the promise has often been bigger than the delivery. Only in movies and television have problem-solvers had visual solutions readily at hand. Recently though, visualization of complex data, specifically the use of GIS systems, has married the notion of spatial data with other types of data sets, such as detailed demographics, satellite maps, etc. Google Maps alone has done wonders to marry the concepts of "ground truth" with various kinds of statistical realities. Matched with accurate search parameters, these web-based capabilities are very useful when it comes to things like deciding where to locate your business, where to find supporters who share a value-system, how to route emergency services, where to locate warehouses to shorten mileage and speed up deliveries, etc. The fact that mobile technologies and visualization are joining forces to help new car buyers avoid traffic snarls and/or never get lost again indicates they're probably more than a fad. Such devices are probably not what most future information managers or future librarians contemplate when they think of their careers, but there's no reason it couldn't be either. Both technologies depend on accurate, well-designed data sets, control mechanisms and aggregation points, all things librarians and other kinds of info managers are used to working with. Very soon, maybe drivers won't be the only ones using such emerging trends to find their way?