More than seventy percent of database records contain spatial information. Spatial display and analysis will be important in many workflow scenarios. Listed below are other geographic applications used by Every Citizen during daily life. The number of applications for geodata is growing rapidly, and will continue to grow as the national and global spatial data infrastructures develop. Maps are part of the pre-Net culture.
New technologies take in old technologies.
Old technologies become the stuff of metaphors. Maps are a part of most cultures, because spatial thinking is an essential part of our relationship to our physical and cultural environment. Even in simpler cultures that don't pass down written records, individuals make temporary maps to remind themselves or show others how to find their way in unfamiliar territory. User interfaces are collections of symbols and metaphors, and the map metaphor is inherently important in cyberspace. Basic research in spatial reasoning, spatial memory, and spatial communication would support development of better user interfaces that employ spatial display and manipulation.