Like many of you, I have been a user of Mapquest for several years. It is always nice when you go to someplace new to have a map in your hands for navigation. Occasionally, Mapquest gets it wrong, but overall, it is still a nice service.
Well, along comes our friends at Google to make maps and getting directions even better. Google has added satellite images to its map program. So, not only can you look at a map and get directions, but you can switch to satellite view and see actual satellite photos of the area in question. And, like other mapping programs, you can zoom in and out to get a better view.
I tried playing with this yesterday and found it a little difficult at first. But, then I got the hang of it and had a great time looking at places I know. Of course, my first attempt was to look at my own house. Finding it on the map was easy, but I was not able to zoom in close as they don't have the closeup images for Ephrata on line yet. I was able to see the city and surrounding areas from the satellite, but that was as close as I could get.
I then tried an address in San Francisco and was able to see the location I was looking for very clearly. What I also discovered was you can hold your mouse button down and drag the map to see other areas of the city.
I then tried my brother's home in Oakland and was able to see his house decently enough to identify. An arrow and red dot on the screen correctly pinpointed my brother's house. As he lives in an area that has thousands of homes all around him, this is important.
At any time, you can click back to "map" mode and see the clearly defined streets. What is also nice in map mode is the main streets and arteries are clearly defined in yellow.
This new map service was made possible six months ago when Google acquired satellite imaging company Keyhole. Aerial photos are just the latest tool Google has added to its search service as it battles it out with industry players such as Yahoo, Ask Jeeves and Microsoft.
You should give it a try. Go to:
http://maps.google.com/
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