Slashdot Mirror
MSN Virtual Earth Revealed
jeremyw writes "A day before its official launch, MSN Virtual Earth has gone live. MSN appears to have been inspired by Google Maps in this combination of local search and mapping. Virtual Earth introduces a number of interface enhancements to the now-familiar draggable aerial web map, such as the ability to zoom in using your mouse scroll wheel, and a Location Finder to determine your location to determine your real-world location "using Wi-Fi technology." Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble claims the site may not perform at full capacity until Monday."
MSN Virtually Useless Earth took me to some little town in the US. Apparently, it completely ignored my criteria.
I love a lot of Microsoft products, but if they're going to compete with the likes of Google Earth and Google Maps, they're going to have to do a lot better than this.
Besides, the interface isn't nearly as clean and fast. Just my two cents.
You know, Ford makes cars with 4 wheels, and voila, GM copies them and makes a car with 4 wheels also.
I'm not saying Google is not innovating, but what is Microsoft supposed to do? If they don't make a mapping software, then they are attacked, if they do, then they are attacked.
Besides, I remember having a CD called something like Encarta Streets or something that was MICROSOFT mapping software long before google was anything other than a mispelling of goggle.
http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=32.676 439%7C-117.158347&style=h&lvl=17&v=1
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.676147,-117.1575 27&spn=0.005491,0.006289&t=k&hl=en
Roberto
Microsoft doesn't create markets, it attempts to take over young markets through agressive (and sometimes illegal) marketing. It aims to achieve a monopoly, which it can then use to lock its customers in, creating a long-lasting cash-cow.
This is the technique used for Microsoft Windows, Word and Internet Explorer. It isn't always successful, but it is successful often enough to make a lot of money and annoy a lot of people.
- If you do a "local search" it brings up a panel with links - however if you shift-click or right-click on those links there's now way to open the new page in a new window.
- If I hit the back button I don't go back to my previous local search results. Heck, somehow they messed with my browser button so the back button never leaves their site. I remember back when porn companies did this, but I don't expect to see reputable organizationos do this.
- I can't right-click on the image to bring it up in it's own window -- a normal web-browser feature that is very nice for printing maps without wasting paper&ink on useless headers and footers.
Basically, this page combines all the limitations of a web brosers with all the inconsistancies-and-difficulty-of-use of a PC application.The one thing that made the Internet easy-enough-to-use to make everyone comfortable with it is that all pages worked the same way (back button works) and all links worked the same way (same right-click-menu). Why does Microsoft feel a need to change this?
Except that Microsoft had mapping, local search and satellite data first...years ago. The only thing they "copied" was the dragability.
Let's see. Microsoft did Teraserver back in 1998. I guess, by your own definition, the tables have turned...
and nobody (including ms) really cared about that ms mapping service. Now that everybody knows about and uses google maps, ms comes out with an updated version.
It's the same as with the new IE version that is rumored to come out soon. MS did not care about it for the last few years (still no png support...), and even announced that html would be obsolete after the release of longhorn. Now firefox threatens their position on the (soon to be dead...) browser market and a few weeks later ms announce a new IE version.
It's ok because they save a lot of money that way, but please don't call them innovative.
I would prefer that Google had legitimate competition, not the type that Microsoft provides. Microsoft never steps into a market and works hard to do better than anyone else -- they step into the market with fistfuls of cash from their existing monopoly and use their brandname and monopoly cash to "compete" until they've destroyed everything in sight, at which point they shutdown all operations and move on to another existing market with clear non-Microsoft innovation.
Why do you think that Internet Explorer has had the same outstanding deficiencies since 1998?
Competition can be a powerful drive to improvement
I don't believe Google is above having competition, but keep in mind that they've been producing the best search products for years -- they're light-years ahead of everyone else in just about everything they've touched. Google does their work without any real competition to hound them into being better.
Microsoft isn't welcome competition, ever. Maybe if they produced results, but they've been an ineffective-products/effective-marketing company for too long to believe they'll start actually producing anything new in search technologies. And I say "new" because I find it hard to believe they can even do that, let alone "better".
Stop it already, he' dead Jim. I think the servers got slashdotted. Never have seen Google go under in a slashdotting.
Thalasar
huh? msn virtual earth sucks ass. the programmers should be wearing ribbons of shame!
If something exists that does not need a creator (god) then why must the cosmos need one?