SOTW: Google Earth
I have no idea why we haven’t added this one to our list. It is, perhaps, the greatest free Google program ever created (at least so far).
It all started back in the day with Mapquest. This handy little website showed all us somewhat internet-savvy people how to get somewhere without getting lost. It wasn’t always accurate and didn’t take anything like traffic, road conditions, weather, repairs or any of that stuff into account. You could count on it getting you near your destination but that was about it.
As time progressed things got better. More information was available online and trip planning became smoother and more efficient. You’d like to stop for food along the way? Perhaps you’d like a hotel? We were able to add things like this to our online travel planning and life was better.
But what does the place you are going to actually look like? How tall are the buildings? What landmarks are around the area?
With Google Earth you can see that and more…much more. Every day they are adding new (and occasionally controversial) content. I won’t be the first to admit that it’s getting a bit creepy. Pretty soon we’ll have real time viewing of the world available to us all…at any time…for free.
It sure will be cool to watch myself drive home though. I wonder if anyone saw me pick my nose…