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Mapping Google Maps
jgwebber writes "Google Maps is starting to cause a bit of a stir as Google makes the browser do still more backflips than most expected. In the tradition of dissecting Google Suggest and GMail, I've done a little dissecting of this newest service."
Google is bravely doing fantastic thing with client-side programming...something many websites have given up on because of cross-browser incompatibility. My money is definitely on Google being very aggressive with Mozilla/XUL based on this work. That's going to be good times!
Either the browser supports it, or doesn't... stop personifying software... it does what it designed to do. Just because other pages out there don't use certain features doesn't mean the browser is doing some amazing task by supporting features.
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Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Does anybody else think that this behavior sounds like Microsoft? The "standards be damned, we're going to do something cool our way". Now granted, it's not their browser, so they're stuck with what browsers can do, but it does suck that this isn't truly cross-platform.
I'm not necessarily complaining, as I can use Firefox, but it is too bad that even Google can't get a webpage to render properly on any modern browser, such as Safari.
.ca) that Google Maps didn't support their countries.
I assume you are saying that Firefox isn't modern? I really don't see how your complaint is any different than those posting yesterday from outside of the US (and lower
This is a BETA. They are going to target the largest group of surfers possible. In order to do that they are going to program the software to interface with the browsers that are most widely used (thus IE and Firefox). Yeah, Safari is great and all and I try to use it daily but Mac users (and nevermind those using Safari) are in the minority.
Just hold on tight and wait for Google to get to you. They will get around to it (just like they did for GMail) but you just have to be patient while they work through the Beta.
Have you tried it out yet? I liked Mapquest but have begun finding their implementation clunky. This service is incredibly fast, incredibly accurate, incredibly versatile. The ability to drag the map around changing the center is fun and much more convenient then waiting for Mapquest to reload the page. The simple "find pizzas near my house" type search is incredible too. So, the answer to your question is yes. This app IS groundbreaking enough to persuade people to switch.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don't
Ick, Map24 could not have a more bloated layout. I'd rather use Maquest.
It wasn't working for me until I realized that I'd have to enable Javascript AND allow it to change images.
- Have you ever noticed that the more you learn about technology, the more stupid you sound trying to explain it?
This is nothing like MS not supporting png for instance, (or did not for a long time) forcing me to use crappy gif images for transparent logos and such. Therefore, MS screws me. It also screws many users, even without them noticing it. I have no problem with windows (I think it's not a bad desktop OS), I have a problem with the price tag, which is unrealistic IMHO. Part of the strategy of keeping that price tag is vendor lockin, which goes hand in hand with disregarding standards. GoogleMaps, a free service, supporting multiple browsers (and therefore: multiple platforms) is nothing like that. Who is exactly the victim of Google's practices?
Lord help us if the privacy fanatics ever get their hands on a phonebook and see all the privacy issues there.
What?
As funny as this may be, it *would* be very handy if they supported a way of first printing the textual directions, and then using their interface to select and zoom views of discrete chunks of the 'directions', and then being able to cleanly print each view that you select (just the map, not the text again each time)