
Google adds impressive zoomable, pannable, street-level views to maps (reload if it doesn't appear) - paul
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=2140+Taylor+St,+San+Francisco,+CA+94133&sll=37.403096,-122.092953&sspn=0.051137,0.102997&ie=UTF8&ll=37.805495,-122.41412&spn=0.006358,0.016823&z=17&om=0&layer=c&cbll=37.802293,-122.414606&cbp=2,135,0.533927953723795,0
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paul
Here's the story: <http://gigaom.com/2007/05/29/google-maps-goes-streetside/>

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brianmckenzie
Now this is just creepy. I'm lucky enough to live in San Francisco, on one of
the streets where this service is already available. I just looked up my
address and all I can say is that I'm glad my blinds were closed when the
Google truck drove by.

I also find it funny that Google managed to come out with this before anyone
else even came out with a viable competitor for Google maps. Damn.

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ced
This: <http://searchengineland.com/061229-084131.php>

says that Google maps has less than half the marketshare of MapQuest. I'd love
to see an article explaining why that is. First mover advantage?

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brianmckenzie
Another thing I found interesting about that article is that Mapquest, Google,
and Yahoo are all running off data from the same company, Navteq. You've gotta
figure that many of the nav systems in cars probably run off their data as
well. The implication here is that if all these services have the same map
data, the accuracy of directions is determined by the algorithm used in each
of these systems, so Mapquest apparently has the best one.

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googvsfacebook
Whoever said you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Looks like grandaddy
google still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Will Zucks and his merry band of
20-something API'ers be able to counter 30-something Serge and Larry's 3-D
maps? Only time will tell.

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edgeztv
I had this exact idea for a startup about a year and a half ago! I really gave
it a lot of thought and tried to recruit my friends, but then I heard that
Microsoft was doing it, and I (rightly) assumed Google would be too.

Even if I had time, I probably wouldn't have done it either way due to the
hundreds of thousands of dollars required to execute it well (360 degree
cameras, trucks, drivers, fuel, etc). I didn't know much about startups or
investors back then.

But still, it's nice to think that I was able to look into the future back
then! I'm sure others shared this vision too - anyone know of startups that
attempted to take this on?

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juwo
B.S. Google Maps doesnt work. _Dont need fancy - just basic stuff that is
correct_ \- like MapQuest!

I got miserably lost when driving from Olathe KS to Lawrence, KS a few months
ago. I used Google Maps which spat out wrong directions. I had blind faith in
Google. In fact I was doing a presentation for Matt, at LRTC in hopes of
getting angel investment for juwo.

He told me an interesting story. The lead developer at Google Maps studied at
Kansas Univ. and chose his apartment in Lawrence, KS as the zero point
coordinates!

So maybe it breaks only in KS!

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abstractbill
It would be amusing (and annoying, of course) if Google started adding virtual
billboards to these street-level views and selling ad space on them. Say with
an algorithm that would pick out large enough pieces of blue sky from the
images, and paste in realistic-looking billboards that would obscure only the
sky so as to not render the views totally useless...

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googlemeh
another sign that google has finally jumped the shark. what's next? pizza
delivery?

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staunch
Hopefully the phrase "jumped the shark" will jump the shark too.

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ralph
Quite. It's an international audience on here. I'm English and I've no idea
what he's on about. (No, please, don't tell me.)

