The Null Device

Google Maps

Google once again raises the bar of what you can do with a web browser. Their latest is Google Maps, an entirely DHTML-based, instantly responsive, scrollable, zoomable map. Functionally, it doesn't seem to do anything that online street maps haven't done for a few years now, but that's not the point; it's the way it does it. Where street maps until now have been clunky and slow, Google Maps feels instantaneous; you can drag the map around, zoom it in and out, and new tiles load on demand. (On a fast connection, it's not slow enough to be annoying.) And the way it displays signposts, with composited Gaussian-blurred shadows, looks pretty cool too. Currently, they only have North America, and only have detailed maps for the United States, but then again, it's still in beta, so hopefully they'll add other parts of the world soon.

There are 3 comments on "Google Maps":

Posted by: steff
http://ofterdingenandkropotkin.blogspot.com/
Tue Feb 8 22:40:08 2005

Yeah they're cool. But only USA ? Meh...

Posted by: acb
http://dev.null.org/
Tue Feb 8 22:52:14 2005

It's an early beta test, and Google, being a US company, were hardly going to try it out on Botswana or somewhere. I imagine they'll follow with local map sets in due course.

Posted by: Jaime
http://matapop.com
Wed Feb 9 06:03:38 2005

Andrew,

I have a question about a phot you took can you please email me. I can't find a functioning email for you, so thats why I'm posting here. Thanks! gminor7@matapop.com

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