The Register, one of my favourite websites for their rather odd blend of abject paranoia, cynicism, and good reporting, has pointed out something rather odd.
Micro$oft have decided to get in on the Google Maps game and so have launched their own version, but it appears to be missing the headquarters of Apple Computers, instead showing a plain field. That’s a bit odd…
The World Trade Center is still there too, which is odd and bordering on insensitive. It’s strange to see the towers casting their shadow down towards the river. From the angle of the sun you can tell that the satellite photo was taken during the morning, and the green of the parks suggest it was during the summer, so probably around breakfast time. It feels slightly strange to see this insignificant moment of history resurfacing so many years after the event that changed so much of the political landscape of the world over the last four years. I once read the entry for Hitler in an encyclopaedia written in 1934. There was a strange sense of ‘if only you knew then…’
On a less philosophical note, it would appear that if you want a map that’s at least vaguely recent then Google is still the place to go. Let’s face it, we ‘google’ for things, we don’t ‘MSN’ for them, and there’s a good reason for that. Still, a bit of competition always helps keep people on their toes.
Meh, some of Google Earth’s satellite photos are years old as well.
First, it’s not exactly new. Microsoft has had http://terraserver.microsoft.com up for quite some time. It’s main problem is the maps they use are usually several years old – some from as far back as the 1980s.
They’re not whited out – they just don’t EXIST yet.
Recent as it is, Google still don’t seem to have managed to get a satellite image of my house. Not that that’s the most serious demand on their time, I’m sure.
I’ve actually just left Manhattan (in ‘reality’ rather than the Google Maps version), but didn’t take to go down to the WTC site. The fact that it’s in the middle of nowehre interesting, aside from the morbidity, put me off somewhat.
I realise that it’s simply that the images are very old, but it’s sometimes fun to find conspiracies in things! Equally, I couldn’t resist the ‘Apple’ search being ‘fruitless’ pun.
I find old photos fascinating, and digital versions of old photos just add an extra layer, especially when it is of a place that was to become so globally important.