The use cases of digital earth

The formal process of system design begins with the identification of use cases. No such cases are readily apparent for the current generation of geobrowsers, though the text of the 1998 Gore speech refers to several. An analysis of the use cases of geographic information systems (GIS) reveals similarities with the functionality of geobrowsers, inviting the view that the two forms of geographic information technology will eventually converge. However, experience suggests that users are finding very different ways of exploiting geobrowsers, and two examples are discussed in detail. These uses can be interpreted within a broad framework of spatial concepts, and the paper concludes that this framework provides a better guide to the future of geobrowsers and Digital Earth than current GIS technology.