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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!
MSN's map
Google's Map
"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!
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
I completely agree - the real headline should be something like "Microsoft Virtual Earth Horribly out of Date"
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>
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.
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 Terraserver stuff was around LONG before Google started offering satellit imagery. Microsoft most certainly did not copy that particular aspect from Google.
± 29 dB
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.
I've also read in the Register that the Twin Towers from WTC are still there.
Yup, still visible in the picture
"She's furniture with a pulse"
Obviously, the MSN earth server didn't like the concept of drawing an infinite loop.
Google's is all over the place as far as high vs. low resolution images. Champaign-Urbana is in low-res, whereas there are a few high-res areas with tiny towns nearby (e.g. Homer or Downs ). Bloomington-Normal, just north-west of Downs, is surrounded on both sides by high-res blocks. In Peoria, East Peoria is low-res, West Peoria is high-res. Dawson, Buffalo and this little unnamed bundle of houses are the most interesting things in a mostly empty block of high-res, whereas Decatur just to the east is low-res.
Most of Grand Junction is low-res (including my brother's house), but Redlands just to the west is in a strip of high-res.
The center of Lake Tahoe is mostly high-res, whereas most of the surrounding area is low-res.