Electronic maps simplify planning and routing. They lower the cost of transportation by sharply reducing the cost of getting lost. Furthermore, they allow optimization of store and advertisement placement. The reason Starbuck’s always seems to be “on the way” is due to the use of GIS.
Dangermond found Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in 1969 for land-use studies. Eventually, they pioneered the use of computer mapping. ERSI remains one of the world’s largest suppliers of GIS data with 2016 revenues of approximately $1.1 billion. For example, the ERSI retail use-case explains “know where customers live, work, and shop.”
As of 2017, Dangermond is #200 on the Forbes 400 wealthiest people with an estimated net worth of $4.9B.
Examples of consumer electronic maps include Google Maps and Waze, among others.