I have been in the Internet space since 1990. The most prescient writer about the Internet during this period has been John Markoff of The New York Times. For example, in December 1993 he wrote a seminal piece on the birth of the World Wide Web. I remember reading this article and thinking that Markoff was telling us that the previously "all text" Internet was going "multimedia."

Today John has a terrific article in The Times called "Marrying Maps To Data For A New Web Service." The article concisely "maps" the plans for Google, Yahoo and Microsoft in this new growth area for search. There is also reference to a new map service called housingmaps.com.

Housingmaps.com is just the kind of Web site that appears out of nowhere and overnight becomes a darling and then hugely valuable. Most likely the owner already has millions of VC money being thrown at him as a result of this article!

One quote from the Markoff article about the potential for maps and local search is worth providing: "There are billions of dollars of commerce down the road. It will be an advertising-supported model which is an ephiphany for many people." (Chris Churchill, Fathom Online, A search engine advertising firm in New York City.)