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Apple Campus Missing From MSN Earth
webguru4god writes "The Register has an article detailing a significant omission from Microsoft's new Virtual Earth application. Apparently the satellite image view of 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA shows a large empty lot, whereas Google Maps shows the sprawling Apple campus. Hmmm, I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?"
The Microsoft picture is from pre-1994 as County Highway 85 does not exist south of Steven Creek Blvd. This part of the highway was opened in 1994. If you look closely, you can see that most of the land for the highway has been cleared, but none of it is paved.
Before Apple, the campus was the HQ of the now-defunct Four Phase Systems. The buidling was sufficiently damaged in the earthquake on 17 Oct 1989, that it was abandoned and eventually razed.
So much for conspiracy theories.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Like anything else in the technology world, Microsoft is behind the times a bit eh? :-) Either that, or Apple is testing a new version of their Reality Distortion Field that possesses visual enhancements on an entirely new level. I always knew that Apple has some great technology.
Seriously though, Microsoft's effort is still in development and what mattered to them was not the data per se, but the codebase behind the data as Microsoft is not interested (historically) in providing people with data or resources as much as they are interested in making money. Once the infrastructure is in place, Microsoft will wrap their map technology into other bits of software to sell GIS functionality in their handheld OS and other applications. It is an entirely different way of business than Google's model which wants to deliver information to people and make their product easy to use and informative even during development. They are smart enough to realize this approach builds a customer base much more effectively than if they were to get access to free, or almost free (and therefore less useful) data with which to populate their databases. It is an investment that has paid off along with their easy to use and intuitive interfaces deliver.
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Apple opened 1 Infinite Loop in 1991 - I remember the building went up very quickly but I don't think it took less than 2 yrs. Highway 85 from 280 to down to 101 opened in 1994 - major sections of it were paved and complete for almost a year before it opened though. If you zoom in on the area around Rainbow Drive you can see some sport where they've barely begun excavation - I think it was around 1987 when they "eminent domained" the last few nearby properties out of there.
Scrolling around the map you can also see some condo complexes completely missing, which were build around that time.
Based on these landmarks (and more) you can tell that MSN's data for cupertino and its surrounding area is over 15 years old! Pitiful!
- G
Start a happiness pandemic
I know that most of you don't run IE but for those of us that do, Apple's HQ didn't appear as an empty lot, instead it looked like a fiery inferno with Jobs sitting on a throne of iPods!
I tried to find Google's campus on the map but all I could find was a serpent and a tree holding the most succulent fruit. Strange, I didn't think that their campus looked anything like that...
Microsoft's HQ, OTOH, was the Garden of Eden with little rabbits and naked nymphs running around. Bill was sitting there laughing because another person bought a copy of Windows and the fire grew brighter where Apple's HQ was supposed to be.
I was thinking God, I really need to switch to another browser, these exploits are of Biblical proportions and then I watched as Bill reached out from MSN Maps, grabbed me by the throat and said, "THEY AREN'T EXPLOITS!"
Scary!
Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.
How suiting...Anyway, aren't the MSN pics pretty old compared to google's anyway?
Dangit, I told Bill not to outsource this project to those workers from that alternate universe!
MSN's map
Google's Map
If you look at the area around the apple head quarters you can see a lot of undeveloped areas. There's a bunch of roads to the north which look like a housing development. In the MSN map, it's dirt, in the google map it's a bunch of houses.
:)
So MSN's map service sucks apparently
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
"Apple's campus missing? I had not scheduled phase 3 of the plant to begin until November. SMITHERS, you idiot, we have tipped our hand again!"
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Why doesn't the apple campus have those lawns in the center shaped like apples?
My theory is that this wasn't done on purpose, but it demonstrates that Google's sources are more "up to date" than Microsoft's.
As least, I hope so. Either way, it only erodes any kind of trust I'd have in a Microsoft solution for encyclopedias, maps, and so on. If they did it on purpose, then why should I trust them for anything? And if done in ignorance - then that means that their competitor has more accurate information.
Either way, it doesn't make Microsoft look good. Which, in a weird way, I almost feel bad about. I'd love to see Google with a real competitor if only because I like seeing competition, because it usually benefits me (the customer (but not consumer)) - but if Microsoft is only going to make a half-assed shot at it, then they may as well stay out of the game.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Whenever I look at maps from Google Earth, I see they've laser-etched "Google" all over the Earth's surface from space. I mean, they even charred my roof with the upper part of the L ferchrissake!
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
If Microsoft deleted Apple, it's an evil conspiracy. If someone else deleted Microsoft (C'mon Google! DOOOOO EEEEEET!) it'd be funny. Just 'cause Billy is a Borg doesn't mean that everyone at Microsoft is humorless.
Hmmm, I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?
Google now occupies the SGI Shoreline campus. Not sure when that was built though.....
I completely agree - the real headline should be something like "Microsoft Virtual Earth Horribly out of Date"
Steal someone's idea, and do a halfassed job...
I'm sure it's not on purpose, it's just the way MS does things.
I've also read in the Register that the Twin Towers from WTC are still there.
I mean, wouldn't one of the beta testers check for that?
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
"I wonder if the Google campus is missing too?"
As kevcol pointed out, you can clearly see their campus - in fact, arguably it's more clear that Google's own version of the same spot.
I found that MSN Virtual Earth fails to register your mouse button release. If you leave the map area with your mouse button clicked
ex:
Moving your cursor to the Tool bar in Mozilla/Firefox
Or to a different monitor if you are using IE...
When you return your cursor to the map, it will move without having to click your mouse...
Sweet.
There is no
Steve Jobs's penchant for high absorptivity wardrobe combined with his obsession for personal privacy probably explains why MS sees nothing.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Wow, I just tried out the MSN maps thing for the first time, and I gotta say, it kicks ass! The way you can click-and-drag the map around is spectacular. And the way you can switch between the satellite view and the regular map is sweeeeeet!! Holy cow, you can even search for local businesses right on the map! WOW! Try it out -- just type in anything, like "hotels near lax" or "pizza" and prepare to be amazed!
See people, you guys badmouth Microsoft all the time, but these guys obviously know how to innovate! All you slashdot trolls just got PWNED by Microsoft, baby. WOOT!!1
</sarcasm>
to hold stories of this nature, which wildly jump to erroneous conclusions.
Microsoft was apparently too cheap to purchase more recent satellite imagery so they got old, crappy data. Google's is more recent.
Nothing here to see folks except a few people with short attention spans that don't do adequate research.
The mods are to be blamed for this. Just today I had a story rejected that had more information than the one published, but it wasn't as pointed in its title.
And it is a great empty box on MSN. But you can find it on MSN Virtual Earth at Groom, NV which isn't available from Google. But Google has a much better sat photo here, easily found just west of Alamo, NV. Oh, wait, that isn't there.
TerraServer's web satellite imagery server came out in the late 90's, with all the early 90's imagery from the USGS. The interface was similar to both of these map sites. And then Microsoft bought and took over TerraServer a year or so later. So, that's probably what's here. Rather than spend time getting data sources updated, perhaps they spent time rewriting all the image server software in .NET.
Seriously, though, Microsoft did the usual overkill, attempting to put too much into the user interface. Hence odd mouse controls, unnecessary zomming animation when a simple quick redraw at the new zoom level is preferred, etc.. More time spent on glitz than substance.
The data of the same picture states that it was taken October 30, 1991
Google maps uses a blending/fade from one set of images to another. My area is full of these seams - they line up pretty good but some of them show views during the summer and others were taken in the winter or fall time.
Terraserver, when they went from simply demonstrating the capabilities of SQL7 to actually maintaining it, they added new images. When they did this, they basically just plopped them in - there's obvious cuts in the map where the two sets line up. I haven't used the MSN images thing yet but when I used Terraserver back in '99 it was all black and white. They may have improved it since then.
The images look great in color on Google maps though, especially the summertime sets.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
The MSN Earth photos are the same as TerraServerUSA, which says that the dataset in question was captured on October 30, 1991.
ignore the large complex of buildings you see before you, they are not on MSFT's radar ... or Google's ...
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Google now occupies the SGI Shoreline campus. Not sure when that was built though.....
Google indeed occupies the four funky looking fromer Silicon Graphics Inc buildings on Shoreline Drive. These were built in the late 1990s. Right across the street to the south is the former home of Adobe (and occupied by Sun at one time too). SGI's first funky looking building is right off of 101 and was built in 1995, it's now home of the Computer History Museum. At one time SGI had almost 20 buildings in that area, some built in the early 1980s. SGI now lives in three newer buildings a few blocks away on Crittenden Drive built in about 2002. The whole shoreline area is a mix of buildings ranging from 1 to 25 years old.
Of course, Australia is missing from the Microsoft maps as well but somehow that seems less notable than... a couple of acres on the west coast of the US?
Believe with me, my saplings.
Hey guys... the world is really small... VISTA DR (Windows Vista??) is a street near from Apple HQ... very good!!
They could be showing a giant crater...
Don't trust any concentration of power.
YMMV when comparing the photographs of the two sites, with some instances have better/newer photos on Google vs. Microsoft, while in other instances the opposite is true. However, I think the interesting thing here IS that age difference. The submitted article pointed out that the Twin Towers were still standing in NYC on the Microsoft site's photos, while Google's pics were of the bare site. I found this unintentional effect to be really interesting - comparing the same location at two different times.
Perhaps that could be the next level of development for Google (or Microsoft) could be just that - time shifting. Along with the satellite vs. map vs. hybrid options, you could also select a year that the pics were taken. Voila, you'd have a virtual wayback machine. You'd be able to see the Twin Towers, or in my case, your subdivision back when it was a dairy farm in 2003 (Gilbert, Arizona).
Obviously, the MSN earth server didn't like the concept of drawing an infinite loop.
The Terraserver stuff was around LONG before Google started offering satellit imagery. Microsoft most certainly did not copy that particular aspect from Google.
t erraserver.microsoft.com/
Specifically, Terraserver came online all the way back in 1998. At that time, it was the world's largest online database (accessible to the public at least) and it offered over a terabyte worth of data-- which was a pretty big database in 1998.
This is the earliest entry in the wayback machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/19981111185028/http://
The site doesn't work of course, but you can see that it existed.
However, Terraserver (and MSN Virtual Earth) appears to be using the same satellite imagery as it did in 1998, for the most part. For some locations, terraserver lets you choose which satellite database to use, and I can compare my area between the early 80's and late 90's and see the effects of urban sprawl.
-CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
Of course MSN gets you a much better view than Google. I mean come on, where do you think your boss would look first?
Still I'll admit that I Googled for the address and got a hit without even having to drill down!
Eastman Kodak Company is 'deleted' from Google Maps. If you look you'll see that the entire park region and all buildings associated with it are 'gone'. All the imagery shows is the 30 meter resolution which is enough to tell you 'something brown' is present.
Why? Your guess is as good as mine, but we do have loads of chemicals in the plant. And seeing as they used to partner with the company that did the imagery, I can see some reasons why.
You'll also notice that the syracuse airport and the Rochester airport are both missing as well. The buffalo airport is present, as well as JFK.
Conspiracy to protect our softer targets? You decide.