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Google Launches Mapping Service

Alex Reynolds writes "The beta version of Google Maps is now online, offering an alternative to Mapquest with what some might describe as a very much improved user interface, offering a cleaner layout, drop shadows, clickable waypoints and keyboard controls that allow you to move and zoom the map. For IE and Firefox/Mozilla at this point (no Safari or Opera support, as yet)."

45 of 889 comments (clear)

  1. Google will never stop... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They seem to have the directions to take on Microsoft

    1. Re:Google will never stop... by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yea but they will never catch them if you use Microsoft Directions they will bring you to i90 North!!!! Well it seems they may have fixed it, but I remember when Microsoft bought out map-blast (my old favorite) I remember getting quite loss with their directions with them telling me to to take an even Interstate North (All even interstate goes East and West) and on the side roads they told me to go East when I needed to go west. And they for the longest time decided not to give Exit Numbers! But I just checked it out it seems that it was corrected.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Google will never stop... by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, Google will soon become a search engine legend, after topping the chart for a long time. They have the key to success, let's hope they can scale this service up so we can all feel that feeling of elevation, like the one I got from playing The Silent Cartographer in Halo for the first time. This is a true landmark in search engine technology. I feel so giddy with excitement that I'm losing my orientation! I need the contours of a hot woman to offer me some relief!

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    3. Re:Google will never stop... by luvirini · · Score: 5, Funny

      well, microsoft gives nice driving instructions for Europeans atleast: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/24/msn_drivin g_instructions/

    4. Re:Google will never stop... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      Thats nothing. Try this on for size:
      I don't know how long it will be before someone at MSN notices that a whole lot of people are interested in this trip; this has appeared on many newsgroups already.
      1. http://mappoint.msn.com/DirectionsFind.aspx
      2. Plan a trip from Haugesund, Norway to Trondheim, Norway
      3. Laugh
      Shamelessly quoted from an ASR posting.
    5. Re:Google will never stop... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Here's another good one Bennäs - Jakobstad. What makes it even funnier is that Bennäs is the closest train station to Jakobstad, that's one hell of a cab ride into town :)

  2. New World Map by olafc · · Score: 5, Funny

    A preview of the world map after Bush his second term is over :)

    1. Re:New World Map by edudspg · · Score: 4, Funny

      A preview of the world map after Bush his second term is over :)

      You have that backwards. After Bush's term scrolling east will work. ;-)

  3. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by Sandmann · · Score: 3, Funny

    > What about the rest of the planet?

    What, BOTH of them?

  4. Re:US Only at the moment. by sosume · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dude, I was thinking, like, wow, that's one big ocean!!! I kept scrolling and scrolling in hope to find Europe, must be what Columbus felt like when sailing to America... ;) Are you sure Europe isn't somewhere on that map??

  5. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's the first thing I thought. It showed a map of the USA, so I tried scrolling right, only to find that the USA really is the whole world. Imagine my surprise! I owe a lot of Americans apologies for daring to doubt them.

  6. Dropshadows?! by kuzb · · Score: 5, Funny
    [..]offering a cleaner layout, drop shadows, clickable waypoints and keyboard controls that allow you to move and zoom the map.

    Jesus! They have drop shadows! Sign me up#@!

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  7. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by imr · · Score: 2, Funny

    well, they will have to put some kind of extension for irak and the tiny island state in Europe, what's its name already?

  8. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by plsavaria · · Score: 2, Funny

    For once, Québec is included in the USA. What a nice mapping service!

    --
    The answer IS 42.
  9. Re:They forgot Poland ! by Gallowsgod · · Score: 2, Funny

    You mean you guys belived you would get maps just because you embraced capitalism?

    --

    The belief in a biblical god is an ignorant one
  10. The world according to Google by hcdejong · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. only one continent
    2. Canada is empty (OK, not too far off)
    3. The center of the world is Coffeyville, Kansas
    4. Nice choice of map - see the distortion at the top. That's one thing you should be able to avoid online.

    Good thing it's a beta, then...

    1. Re:The world according to Google by acb · · Score: 3, Funny

      I wonder whether anyone has told the Coffeyville, KS chamber of commerce; they could start printing Center of the World postcards and T-shirts, and rename the local diner the Center of the World Diner, and hopefully rake in the tourist bucks.

  11. Re:US Only at the moment. by mst · · Score: 2, Funny

    It does? I clicked "maps" and entered "Sweden" into the search box and was informed (by a set of red baloons) that I live somewhere between Tulsa and Kansas City, not in northern Europe as I've always believed.

    Come to think of it, this could explain the unusually warm winters we've had in Sweden lately.

  12. Woo hoo! Drop shadows! by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now I'll NEVER get lost again! It's too bad the inventor of the drop shadow never filed a patent...

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  13. Must be a bug by I+don't+want+to+spen · · Score: 2, Funny

    I did a search for Apple Computer Inc Cupertino CA and I got an Infinite Loop ...

    --
    Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
  14. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by jrumney · · Score: 4, Funny

    There be dragons!!!!

  15. Centre of the map by PhilHibbs · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, who lives closest to the intersection of 2200 Rd and 4300 Rd, Coffeyville, Kansas? Just keep clicking the "+" button, and that's where the exact centre of Google's map of the US is. Just north of Coffeyville Country Club.

  16. [tt]:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by Porn+Whitelist · · Score: 2, Funny
    thant develop the super product that costs way too much to manufacuture and no one would use ALL the features.
    Well, you just flushed your job interview at Redmond.
  17. How about my car keys? by LemonFire · · Score: 2, Funny

    With Googles ability to find just about anything I thought that I was in luck, however a search for my car keys at my residential address came up with nothing.
    Bummer.

  18. very impressive! by Complicity · · Score: 5, Funny
    I searched for prostitutes near my address, and it came back with the following:
    • Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada
    • St Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church
    • Customers For Life Inc
    • Brantford Public Library
    • Children's Aid Society of Haldimand-Norfolk
    • Oxford Self-Help Network
    Google teaches us so many things!
    --
    - c -
  19. Rubbish! by eric.t.f.bat · · Score: 5, Funny

    I went looking for some cities I know of in the US, and the coverage is spotty, to say the least. New York is there, of course, but I went south to New Jersey and Delaware, and both Gotham and Metropolis are missing. Duh! Iowa and Minnesota exist, but Central City and Keystone are missing. Boston and Seattle are there, but no sign of Hub City, Gateway City, Star City -- need I go on? Obviously Coast City isn't there, but there's no marker for where it WAS.

    Pretty shakey all round. Not impressed.

    --
    I have discovered a truly remarkable .sig block which this margin is too small to conta
    1. Re:Rubbish! by Cheeze · · Score: 3, Funny

      Did you search for Vice City or San Andreas?

      Those cities are gangland.

      --
      Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
  20. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by Epistax · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now now, you can clearly see Canada's road.

  21. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by pjt33 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's all right. I'm used to maps not working too well in Lynx.

  22. What are google planning???! by madaxe42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    We could not calculate driving directions between miami and anchorage. We currently only support road-based driving directions.

    Coming soon - off road based driving directions!

    Turn left out of drive.
    Go through neighbours yard.
    Swerve to avoid barn
    Swerve to avoid cow
    Attatch floats to car, cross pond
    Drive across desert, hope for reliable engine
    Drive through mountains, attatch boring attatchment(yawn)
    Reach crevasse
    Plummet
    Go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200

  23. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by hachete · · Score: 4, Funny

    > Finally, Google IS a US-based country.

    It'll be getting it's own flag and army next.

    --
    Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
  24. Re:You can drag the map ! by Vintermann · · Score: 4, Funny

    Either google maps is north america only, or the atlantic ocean is a lot bigger than I thought.

    --
    xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
  25. Re:You can drag the map ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot reply template #24
    How to reply to a story about a new tool:

    "Yawn. You've obviously not seen [insert tool name here that no-one has ever heard of]."

  26. dragons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    While it's still in beta, the areas for which they don't have information online yet should have the text "Here be dragons."

  27. Re:Forget IE/Firefox etc... by generic-man · · Score: 1, Funny

    Knowing Google, it will be in beta for years. People will insist that it's the best, even though it's in beta and how dare you criticize a beta product.

    How can you be so sure they'll "expand its scope in the future"? Google News has stayed the same for three years without any customizability or flexibility (I want info on MY sports teams, not the world's most popular teams).

    Oh crap. I just criticized a Google service. Better bring on the lies about how beta is a legally-binding term, and that it's good for Google to never release anything as a final version.

    --
    For more information, click here.
  28. Just wait for version 2.0 by jalefkowit · · Score: 2, Funny

    Two words:

    lens flares!

  29. Nice, but where's the rest of the world gone ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Well if I want to buy a pizza in Kansas it is all very well....but hello Google there is a world outside the US. Sort of

  30. Re:You can drag the map ! by ArsonSmith · · Score: 4, Funny
    Google just got rid of all irrelevant information.
    <preemptive humor impaired apology/>
    Just kidding Geesh lighten up people.
    --
    Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
  31. Re:You can drag the map ! by jthayden · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's trying to warn you not to go to New Jersey.

  32. Re:You can drag the map ! by Media+Tracker · · Score: 2, Funny

    map.search.ch also has a very sleek, highly usable interface, built using only JavaScript. You can drag the map, zooming is animated, and you get a mix of satellite imagery and vector graphics... Very cool.

    Only covers Switzerland, unfortunately.

  33. Re:Features I would like. by igny · · Score: 2, Funny

    Least number of turns (most direct route).

    But do they have Left turns only?

    --
    In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
  34. Re:It's all coming together now. by sconeu · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, but does it send you on a tour of Europe just to go north a few hundred kilometers?

    If it doesn't, then I'm sticking with MSN Maps!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  35. Re:You can drag the map ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you're under linux and the javavm binary can't be found by the java plugin then Java does present rather a problem.. you need to edit your binary search paths ($PATH) and make sure javavm can be hand then all should be well.. try running firefox from a console and you can get a little information as to why the browser dies..

    2005 is definitely the year of Linux on the desktop!

  36. Who is Peggy Marfori? by Drakonian · · Score: 3, Funny
    My pedantry requires that I mentioned that "wherefore art thou" Shakespeare-style actually means Why are you, not Where.

    But assuming you actually meant where, what are you looking for? A long lost girlfriend, Timothy? Are you looking for a map to her new place? What about the restraining order?

    --
    Random is the New Order.
  37. Re:Features I would like. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Dear NASCAR fan,

    Our cars can turn *both* ways.

    Sincerely,
    The Google Team