Journal NaDrew's Journal: [R] Online mapmakers intersect with reality
The next time you check a street address on Yahoo, you should know that it took days and months of driving by people like Mark Chilianis and Bill Wong to make sure you plot the best possible route to that party or appointment.
Chilianis and Wong work for Navteq of Chicago, which collects the digital map data used by Internet companies and car manufacturers, many of which now install navigation systems in automobiles.
Companies such as Navteq and Tele Atlas, which is based in Boston, have been collecting digital map data for about 20 years. But advances in technology have made the work of geographic analysts, as Wong and Chilianis are called, much easier.
This is a fascinating look into how the online maps we rely on every day are actually created.
