

Ask HN: Google Street View USPS - claytheboss

Why doesn&#x27;t google place street view cameras on USPS trucks? They literally drive by almost every house in america every day. This would give them daily updated street views.
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davismwfl
In addition to the fact that like smeyer mentioned that many USPS vehicles
just stop and deliver through an area, or only go to community boxes now,
using USPS vechicles would likely come with significant legal issues. The USPS
is (in part) funded by the US Govt, it is essentially a government owned and
operated division. So if you start jamming 65MP camera's with highly accurate
GPS and inertia sensors etc on them may cause peoples heads to explode with
conspiracy theories.

I would see a more likely partnership being the trucking/shipping industry
(like FedEx/UPS etc). While the technology would have to change some to get
the right angles etc, it would seem like an easy way to cover significant
territory. But then again, it wouldn't be contiguous areas at the same time so
they would likely have to mash old and new images at a much more frequent pace
which may not provide as good a consumer experience.

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smeyer
There isn't a ton of value add in having daily updates to street views (things
don't change that frequently), but there would be a huge increase in expense.
I don't know the exact number of google street view cars, but there are way,
way, way fewer than there are USPS trucks. Outfitting lots of USPS would add a
ton of expense to the equation.

As a side note, I am curious what fraction of houses they actually drive by
each day. In many residential areas it seems common for drivers to park the
delivery car while they walk around the block with the mail. Still, it seems
clear the coverage is pretty substantial.

Edit: this post indicates an October 2012 number of around 250 cars, just to
give a sense of scale.

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claytheboss
Yeah it may make more sense to go private with fedex etc. but the USPS is
always hurting for money too :). I can't think of another industry besides
parcel delivery that covers the area as often.

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sumitgt
I always assumed they had to drive street view vehicles at a specific speed to
get good series of images.

