Google does the Earth and lets you map it too

Posted on July 7th, 2005 by David

Update for 02005 07 07:

The Google Earth download is good to go. There are very specific requirements for running the application, including the age of your desktop PC or laptop and the kind of video card you’re using.

Original post, 02005 06 03:

Google’s latest offering as a result of its acquisition in October 02004 of the Keyhole Corporation, a satellite/remote sensing company, is Google Earth, “A 3D interface to the planet”. Google Earth is a desktop application in three varieties: a free service with limited but still impressive capabilities, a GPS-enabled version for $20 a year called Google Earth Plus, and the commercial version at $400 annually called Google Earth Pro.

Google Earth is only available for the Windows operating system and as I write this, it’s a kind of come-on vaporware because the Downloads page says:

“Google Earth downloads temporarily delayed

Thanks for your interest in Google Earth, but we’re sorry we can’t offer you a download right now. As you know, Google Earth is in beta, and we’re still building out our ability to take on new users. We’re making good progress, and expect to be able to accept new downloads shortly, so we recommend you check back daily at earth.google.com. We hope to be able to welcome you and other new planet surfers soon.”

Well, no, I didn’t know Gogle EArth is in beta because (a) it doesn’t say that anywhere on the front page and (b) there are links on that page inviting us to “Get Google Earth”. When your stock shares are at $300 US, what’s a little glitch and misleading advertising in your latest free service.

Too bad the Google Earth wizards didn’t think to offer a notify-by-email link when the downloads are ready to go again….

Google also released a beta version of the API for its Google Maps service. According to the Google Maps API page, it’s “available for any web site that is free to consumers. Google retains the right to put advertising on the map in the future.” (via Google Maps API, Weblog Tools Collection, 02005 06 30)

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Tags: Cool Tools, Search and Retrieval Technology, Searcher Magazine Threads, Visualization Systems // 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Google does the Earth and lets you map it too”

  1. Mickey // Jul 6, 2005 at 20:45

    Google is just tearing up the online mapping world. If you have a financial interest in MapQuest, you oughta be pretty worried. :)

  2. Gadi Perets // Jul 17, 2005 at 00:18

    I would like to download the Google Earth application
    Thanks

    Note by David Mattison: You can only download Google Earth from its Web site: http://earth.google.com

  3. daniel kentfield // Aug 23, 2005 at 10:04

    This is quite annoying seeing as i only have windows millenium me. Argh does anyone kow an alterna website or anywhere else i can get a satellite view as good as that.

  4. David // Aug 23, 2005 at 20:29

    Daniel, I wrote an article for the January 2004 issue of Searcher magazine on digital mapping databases, all obviously pre-Google Earth. There are a lot of choices in this area. Google Earth, as good and as fascinating an application as it is, does not yet cover the entire world with high-resolution satellite imagery. While Google Earth integrates Google’s search technology with geographic data, you can find other sources of geographic data that emulate some of what Google Earth does. What I would suggest you do, if you’re in a metropolitan area is check with your local government first and find out if they have a publicly accessible GIS (Geographic Information System) server. Many of these local systems include a data layer that’s comprised of satellite or aerial photography imagery. Examples here in my part of Canada include VanMap in Vancouver and the Capital Regional District’s Natural Areas Atlas. The U.S. government has a National Map Viewer, part of GeoData.gov, that includes aerials of some cities. And the US government through NASA also offers millions of free satellite imagery, unfortunately, most of it is not the high-resolution variety. The US Geological Survey, however, offers free high-resolution aerial photos of a few urban places, also accessible through GeoData.gov. Some of these Web-based applications require the download of a GIS plug-in viewer for your browser, and these should work with Windows ME.

  5. online survey software // Jan 23, 2006 at 14:53

    i love google earth ok!…it’s better than a map! well, if u walk around with laptop like me ;)but anyway, i think it’s very useful thing…and i hope other serach engines get something better than this as well…he!

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