the technologist

I thought this was worthy of moving down to a post from the sidebar because it is definitely informational. Google Maps has been updated to include a “Street View” feature. People not currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Las Vegas, Denver or Miami might not notice at first because those are the only cities with significant portions of their landscape enabled for this feature. Briefly, it works as follows:

If the street-level view feature is available, a button will show up on the maps page for the location entered. Clicking on it brings up a window with the view and directional arrows that can be clicked on to proceed in that direction. The window can be made full screen as well, and users can zoom in on street signs, bus stops and other details…

Or check out the below video for a quick demo:

I am curious as to what the brand loyalty is for online map services, but it seems as if Google Maps took over a ton of traffic previously going to Mapquest and YahooMaps (even though Mapquest is still managing to hang on in the Kleenex/Tivo all-purpose verb contest). Bottom line: Google Maps had a cleaner interface and the satellite view wow-factor.

Not content to rest on their laurels, Google is taking an Apple-ish approach to maintaining their user base by introducing another element that has that priceless “holy shit” tag on it. The people who work at Google - at the very least - have the world thinking they are smarter than everyone else. Little developments like these go a long way towards substantiating that claim regarding the company that put a math equation on a billboard as an interview tactic.

What is really interesting though is that Microsoft’s Live.com has had a similar feature for over a year now. In fact, Google wasn’t even second place. From CNET:

“It’s a valuable addition to maps and complements the satellite view,” said Greg Sterling, founder of consultancy Sterling Market Intelligence. “Microsoft has had this for over a year but hasn’t rolled it out beyond Seattle and San Francisco. (Amazon.com’s) A-9 also had it, but shut it down.”

Also on Tuesday, Microsoft launched a three-dimensional version of New York at Live.com Maps and said it would roll out 3D views of Austin, Texas; Cape Coral, Fla.; Cincinnati; Indianapolis; Northampton, England; Ottawa; Savannah, Ga.; and Tampa, Fla., throughout the day. The maps show aerial views of Times Square, Central Park, Wall Street and other spots and include maps and driving directions, as well as yellow-page listings, consumer ratings and reviews for businesses.

In the bigger picture, it’s absolutely incredible to watch how the Web 2.0 explosion has taken the individual strengths of so many isolated areas of promise in the original internet and connected them for an exponential increase in potential.

Google is at the forefront of that change. Piece by piece they are revealing their plan to parlay mammoth success in the search engine and online ad revenue arenas into total domination of the web-based software marketplace. What Microsoft was for desktop productivity software, and Apple was and is for lifestyle products, Google is quickly becoming for server-based, people friendly software.

Free apps like Picasa are breaths of fresh air for people who want Mac-style ease of use and functionality but are forced to use PC’s for one reason or another. Gmail and Google Maps are huge successes both in stealing online patrons from previously entrenched stalwarts like Hotmail and Mapquest as well as capturing the imagination of the public, shattering perceptions on what everyone thought was possible.

This is yet another way in which Google is pushing its mystique to Apple-esque levels: they do something that has already been done, but better and with more fanfare. The previous attempts by other entities just were not publicized well-enough, or were never widespread enough to garner nationwide attention. They are becoming very adept as a company at maintaining the notion that they have the edge on everyone, even when they are playing catchup, which is one of Apple’s defining traits.

So far, we all seem to be going along for the ride. As each dot in their master plan gets connected, I certainly feel as if I am getting another little glimpse into what the future of information holds.

Stumble it!

~ by Kent Francisco on June 1, 2007.