It’s Time For An Open Database Of Places

"Here is the problem: These efforts [from Twitter, Google, Foursquare, Gowalla, SimpleGeo, Loopt, and Citysearch] at creating an underlying database of places are duplicative, and any competitive advantage any single company gets from being more comprehensive than the rest will be short-lived at best. It is time for an open database of places which all companies and developers can both contribute to and borrow from...."