"Google Earth"

 

It's difficult taking sides with internet companies. I remember loving Microsoft in the '90's and then hating them as they gobbled up all the minnows that were snapping at their heels (to mix a metaphor). I was enamoured with Netscape and cheered them on as they knocked Microsoft browser into a cocked hat. I booed when Bill Gates said the internet was dead and what was needed was a walled Micro Net. One of his few missteps.

Then Google came along and it was small, smart and free -do you remember having to pay Microsoft for e-mail and internet access! Google was the giant killer. 

Now it's the giant along with the other social media giants. Do you remember when social media was called Internet 2! As if somehow it was not really part of the main internet. And now Bill Gates, the minnow gobbling, anti competition bastard of old is the wise old sage of the net. At the same time he's might be buying up US TicTok he's hammering on about anti- competitive behaviour - he should know. 

Gosh, the European Union used to get so upset with Microsoft bundling its browser along with its other software! Now it's Facebook and Google that are suitable cases for treatment.  There's the question about whether 2 billion people being linked up is good for humanity generally when there are loads of nefarious groups, countries and governments keen to exploit the scope and spread of this connectivity. But that's for another day.

I want to talk about Google. It is a fabulous search engine - remember Web Crawler or Alta Vista? Street view is fun and informative. I've saved thousands of pounds visiting the great cities of the world via Street View. There's Street Moon and is there a Street Mars? But what knocks me out is Google Earth.

There you are looking at this blue/white globe hanging it the sky, you click on search and enter your post code and in an instant your hanging over your house. Grab the little man on the right and drop him in your road and there's your house. And you can do it all over the place. 

I went to Antarctica in 2018. Google Earth enabled me to set up a project showing all the places I visited in an instant. A 13 hr journey from London to Buenos Aires took a gnat's fart. As did the 3 hour plane trip from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. The Google maps of Antarctica are not so cool and there are no Penguin Views of the South Shetland Islands but I'm sure they'll sort that out.

Frankly I don't care if Trump, Russia and all the bots screw up the truth as long as I have Google Earth.