Letting others take your tools and concepts to another level
As further proof (did we need any?) that at least one person has thought of just about every good idea, and many have executed those ideas in some fashion, typically on the Internet, I'm happy to link to FlightStats. [Found this morning via Heath Row's post on the Fast Company blog] FlightStats keeps track of all things flight-time related, and has created a number of ways in which the data can be spun, published, and utilized on a personal and business level. And heck, anytime you go to a firm's site and see that they are publicly informing about their API, that's a big deal - because just as "the people" can partake in citizen journalism and news and information is flowing in multiple directions, "the people" are also creators of tools, software, and services for the rest of us to jump in on.
