Lab 4

After being introduced to ArcGIS and spending some time completing the tutorial I instinctively began to have opinions about the program and started to identify some of the potentials and pitfalls of the software. My initial feeling about the program was that it was a bit confusing, tedious and boring. However, the longer I worked on the tutorial I became more comfortable with the software and could complete each step in a more timely manner and with fewer glitches.

Many of the pitfalls of ArcGIS were apparent from the beginning. Although the tutorial was easy enough to follow it took me awhile to actually learn from it. It was easy to mindlessly follow the steps but not as easy to comprehend the actual progress of each step. The program is also not very "user friendly" it takes awhile to understand the layout of the program, you definitely have to know your way around the program before you can start making progress. Possibly the biggest pitfall of the program is it is still only as good as the data. Meaning, humans must input data into the program in order to get a result. This means there is a lot of room for human error.

It is inevitable that all software will have problems, therefore it is important to identify the positive aspects of ArcGIS along with the negative. Firstly, ArcGIS produces great results. The maps are pleasing to look at and easy to read. Other features such as the legend are very helpful and easy to produce using the program. The program also gets results quickly, good maps can be made fast. Although with the tutorial we only created three maps, it is apparent that the possibilities seem almost endless. Lastly, the software is easy to share and transport this means that multiple users can work and collaborate on a map without having to stand side by side.

As you can see after just one exercise with ArcGIS I was able to recognize the pros and cons of the software. I was able to complete not only one, but three maps after the introductory tuturial, it is obvious that ArcGIS is very powerful and very helpful in geography today and will contintue to be so for many years to come.