June 29th, 2007
Google Maps Own
Posted by
exorcist in
Interesting
Google has just added a feature to Google Maps that improves it to the point were I don’t think the competition has much of a chance unless they follow suit. You can now alter your driving directions with a simple click and drag interface!
Read the article on The Register Here
on June 30th, 2007 at 7:15 am
I think I heard about that. A fantastic ability, of course. Something that is more boggling, is the “Street View” option. Of course, it isn’t widespread enough to be of pratical use to most of us mere mortals, but go to maps.google.com and zoom out until you can see all of the USA. Then you will see an additional option in the upper right corner that says “Street View”
Click on the “Street View” option and then zoom in on, say, NYC. Click and drag your little guy around on the highlighted streets. You can pan and zoom on the pictures for a 360 degree view. Pretty nifty huh? If you ever want to check out an intersection you can do it.
on June 30th, 2007 at 10:33 am
I saw that as well. As you pointed out though, it’s not very useful for the vast majority of people. And since those city’s are changing all the time, the information in those images will quickly become out of date and useless to everyone. To be honest, I think it’s destined to have a short life.
on June 30th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
It might not be practical, but it is facinating so I don’t know how short a life it will have. Also, how an intersection is controlled by lights, stop signs, etc doesn’t change all that often. I would find it very useful if it actually did become more prevalent. I sure wouldn’t mind a sneak peak drive through of all the intersections I would need to handle on a drive through a busy city. It gives you an idea of what to expect.
The real amusement is in the possibility for the armchair tourist. You can see all of LA that you want from google maps now. Cruse the golden gate bridge, see the ocean, you name it.