Hot off the presses is Google Earth, an all-around versatile mapping program from Google. Building on their purchase of Keyhole and their on-line mapping technology (see link below), they released a desktop that does all sorts of mapping - only this time with video and 3D.
It’s one thing to enter in a start point and an end point, and then see the line drawn on the streets and highways, but when you can actually follow the directions in a video - complete with turns, names, etc - you’ve reached the next level.
With our honeymoon a little more than a week away, I plugged in the drive from our house in Ohio to our destination in Memphis. Google had now trouble find the addresses and showed the path as any good web site would.
But then I hit the “play” button and woosh - I’m off! The map tilts and swirls to my house where I start and follows the path for the entire trip - turn by turn, direction by direction.
It uses broadband connections and some hefty overhead from your PC to make it run, but I am typing this in notepad while I’m watching my journey in Earth. I just hit Nashville.
If you’re looking for the next handy tool that can save you time, this is it. If you have the hardware, the internet, and the time to be awed by this novelty, then go grab it. It’s worth the 15 minutes of enjoyment as you follow your ride from Atlantic City to Deluth.
