Google to Map San Francisco in 3D 267
mtz206 writes "SiliconValleyWatcher reports that "Google plans to use trucks equipped with lasers and digital photographic equipment to create a realistic 3D online version of San Francisco, and eventually other major US cities. The move would trump Amazon's A9 service, which offers two-dimensional photos of buildings on US city streets.""
Well (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Well (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well (Score:2, Insightful)
I love the rest of the world and international types... but you gotta remember that every company thinks of their country and locale first... Then they move on to the rest of the world.
Now if google ever comes out and says: "We arn't doing europe because we think they are poopoo" THEN you can complain and I will join in with you.
Imagine.. (Score:3, Insightful)
You could visit every city they have mapped.
Yummy!
Re:Well (Score:3, Insightful)
One Upmanship (Score:3, Insightful)
That depends on the user (Score:3, Insightful)
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not just the USA (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, we did (eventually) get Froogle here in the UK, but I don't believe any of the other countries have. Google maps also arrived, but again, I don't believe it covers anywhere else.
Now you have satellite imagery and 3D maps and again the UK hope for it and the rest of Europe seems to be out on a limb.
I have no doubt that the UK will eventually see this stuff (as with the others) and for that I am thankful - however our friends elsewhere in Euroland I fear will never see the light of day of some of this rather cool products.
... Profit (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't credit corporations with having deep rooted feelings of patriotism, you will be disappointed if you do. Every company (that is not being mismanaged) thinks about the most profitable market first so that it can bring the only people it truly cares about, the shareholders, managers and key employees, a good profit/reward. Google is launching this service in the US because they did their math and concluded it's the biggest and most profitable market.
Re:What is the practical application for this? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:2, Insightful)
When they score geek points, geeks want to work for them. That way, they get the best people for the lowest price.
Geeks are also the have a major influence on other people's online behaviour. Did your mother try out all the other search engines before deciding that google was the best?
Extra dimensions equals faster invalidity (Score:2, Insightful)
I know there are acceptable degrees of invalidity for mapping, but wouldn't adding an extra dimension to the map make it invalid even more quickly ? The applications for which one uses 3D maps are likely to require a lower error tolerance, aren't they ?
(Someone correct me if I'm wrong - I'm no 3D modelling guru or map expert)
Re:Well (Score:5, Insightful)
As a corporation it is legaly bound to do what is best for its shareholders. While rolling out Google 3d Europe might be warm fuzzies, it's not necessarily the most exploitable market. Moreover, if you're going to test out an infrastructure heavy technology, why not do it in your home city (San Fran for Google)
This comes down to money. Google thinks this will make them more money than rolling out more features to Europe.... that's why.
Re:What is the practical application for this? (Score:5, Insightful)
And a belt to strap down that jerking knee of yours.
Jesus Christ on a crutch - why is it everything in the US now has to be defined in terms of its potential utility to terrorism? Other countries have been putting up with terrorism for years (often with the US's implicit or explicit approval) without reigning in basic human rights like privacy and freedom, but the second you have a large-scale foreign terrorist action on the US mainland suddenly the FBI can unilaterally read your mail and harsh language is banned in case it's used by Teh Terr0ri5ts!!!!
Even after 9/11, you're still hundreds of thousands of times more likely to die in a car crash than from terrorist action. Why aren't you worrying about the implications of allowing anyone to buy a car without a background check, fingerprinting, surgically-embedded RFID tag and rectal swab on file?
Re:copyright... (Score:3, Insightful)
I would think that this new google thing would be allowed, but then again, google is a for-profit endeavor, so...
Re:Well (Score:2, Insightful)
To be fair to them, they have expanded the features that they have eg Google Maps (including low-res satelite images) was expanded to the UK and I dare say will be expanded to other countries in time.
If you're desperate to know when they plan to support your country then why not ask them http://www.google.com/support/maps/bin/request.py/ [google.com] ? You never know, they might be good enough to tell you... ;-)
Re:Terms of use (Score:2, Insightful)
And Google Wallpaper wasn't a competitor - they were using Google's servers, and their data (which they payed for) to provide a service which violated the terms of service of Google Maps - and had the possibility of becoming a business for the guy. Obviously Google would have had to take legal action against the guy if he started making money off of the google maps data & service.
Re:Patent your house brick arrangement (Score:5, Insightful)
What, you consider un-personally-attributable images merely of your building to be a privacy violation?
Dude, I hate to break it to you, but your privacy is being violated hundreds of times a day - they're called passers-by. You might want to spend some time on the corner of your lot with paper head-bags and a persuasive smile.
"There will be a great deal of abuse here. Imagine some girl gives out her phone number, or some guy finds it in a phone book."
Ignoring the sheer difficulty of doing reverse-lookups from phone number to address (which is made intentionally hard, for this very reason)...
"They find the address, they map it out. They even know what bushes to hide behind. Neat, tech helping pervs."
Right, and they can't do this with... oh, I dunno... a paper map? Or by, you know, walking past the house once or twice?
"I can see the mafia use this technology too. What to kill someone? How about a little research first. Lets see what roads lead to his house and away."
Right, 'cause the Mafia are always bumping off people left, right and centre round where I live. How about you?
And face it, any hitman or criminal who plans his crimes without first thoroughly casing the joint in real life first is a fucking retard.
And someone that fucking stupid is going to be caught pretty soon anyway when they realise sniper rifles don't flush.
You know, it's just occurred that you might be trolling - congrats if so, I utterly fell for it.
You were trolling, right?
Re:... Profit (Score:3, Insightful)
They may not stay there... but they always look there first.
In this case google saw a large city not too far away and most likely said 'Hey... this will be a cheap guinea pig that won't require much hassle... let's start here'
I have yet to see a business from say Michigan say... "Hey! We are starting out a new idea... let's try it in London first instead of Detroit!"
Re:Imagine.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Also, I found myself recognizing my surroundings in Dublin, Ireland. as soon as I saw the "spike" [educate-yourself.org] I realized where from: Remember that slashdot article [slashdot.org] from about a year ago where you could control a set of skylights over Dublin using a 3D-model of the area where the lights were set up?
Well, my point being: I can't recall ever recognizing my surroundings from 2D-maps. It seems 3D representations are easier to learn and remember. And so, there *is* a point to what google is doing.
Re:Why? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Not just the USA (Score:5, Insightful)