Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Google Earth

I have commented on Google Earth before and I love the aerial view it gives me of places I know very well from the ground. The fact it is now unnerving governments around the world who are afraid it offers too good a view of their government buildings and military installations is just another example of how the Internet is changing everything. Or more to the point, how Google is changing everything.

Whether this is good or bad depends upon your prospective. I won't say that India, for example, shouldn't be concerned that Pakistan is able to evaluate images of all their defense preparations.
Though in Google's defense it can be said that any technology can be misused. In my opinion this is usually not sufficient enough reason to limit how people employ it. I wonder if the furor would have been greater if Microsoft had introduced "Microsoft Earth" before Google.

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