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It's cool to see these images improve, but they just got this idea from MapBox, no? Just like they got the idea to move on vector and 3D from Apple. Is inventio

It's cool to see these images improve, but they just got this idea from MapBox, no? Just like they got the idea to move on vector and 3D from Apple. Is invention at Google Maps dead, and now we just watch as they ape their competitors to stay ahead? Reactivity is to be expected from the entrenched player, but aping competitors alone won't keep Google relevant forever.

rdouble 13y ago
Probably. The main guys who created Google Maps are long gone.
vegardx 13y ago
I don't think you can credit Apple for the technology to make 3D photography, it has been a very well established technique for quite some time. Apple just happend to buy a company that did exactly this.
mayanksinghal 13y ago
MapBox announcement seems to be not more than a couple of months old. If you think that someone can take inspiration, get data, process, QA test and launch such a feature in such a short duration, you should be impressed anyway. Google Earth had 3D for a long time. Vector maps is again a huge undertaking and takes time to get right. Some companies didn't take their time, some did.
- stevehawk 13y ago
  But they didn't make Google Earth. They bought it from a small company that was partially funded by the CIA.
  - mayanksinghal 13y ago
    So was the case with Apple, if my sibling is correct. I am just trying to say is that there is plenty, like a lot lot, of innovation in Google Maps - from devices that make it's own mapping data to using WebGL to render it in 3D in browser. To claim otherwise, with incredibly weak argument as in the original comments, is either lazy or dishonest.
- hnha 13y ago
  I have no idea how to sort by date in Flickr' idiotic new design but Charlie Loyd (vruba) has been posting images about the project for >8 months, probably talking about it even longer.
throwawaay 13y ago
You're so absolutely and completely wrong that you're probably trolling, but: Google implemented vector maps on Android long before Apple introduced their own maps (i.e. ~years). Likewise, 3D buildings have been available through Earth for years, and rendering them in Maps was an obvious next step. Ultimately, both Apple and Google launched 3D at right around the same time. Last, as a sibling poster pointed out, if you think all of this was started in reaction to MapBox's work (earliest public mention I found was April 1st) and completed less than 3 months later, then that's just fucking admirable execution right there. But alas, that probably wasn't copied either.
- andrewljohnson 13y ago
  Now that you say it, you're totally right about the vector maps thing. I don't think it's impossible cloudless aerials were inspired by MapBox though... I think you and your sibling overestimate how hard it is to chop up and process imagery with a cluster of computers.
  - throwawaay 13y ago
    The new base map imagery was preceded by the Timelapse release last month, which used basically the same techniques on historical data. See: <http://world.time.com/timelapse/> http://world.time.com/timelapse/> and <http://earthengine.google.org/> http://earthengine.google.org/>. It ought to be pretty clear that both of these have been in the works for a long time. If you seriously believe that _any_ mapping provider (including Microsoft, Nokia, or Google) hasn't been actively removing clouds from their imagery for a very, very long time, then you haven't been paying attention. No one needed MapBox to give them the idea of removing the giant patches of white obscuring everything in view. In any case, your willingness to comment on a subject that you obviously know little about -- and then extrapolate your wrongness into a statement about the industry -- is impressive. Every sentence of your original post is wrong.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - 13y ago
mberg 13y ago
The language and examples in the blog post above seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from posts by MapBox below. Regardless of whether or Google was working on it in advance or not - it's a feature I imagine you can't afford but not copy. Giving some attribution to the concept or at least a shout out to MapBox for pulling this off seems at least warranted. http://www.mapbox.com/blog/cloudless-atlas-with-landsat/ http://www.mapbox.com/blog/cloudless-atlas-with-landsat/ http://www.mapbox.com/blog/huge-mapbox-satellite-update/ http://www.mapbox.com/blog/huge-mapbox-satellite-update/

rdouble 13y ago

Probably. The main guys who created Google Maps are long gone.

vegardx 13y ago

I don't think you can credit Apple for the technology to make 3D photography, it has been a very well established technique for quite some time. Apple just happend to buy a company that did exactly this.

mayanksinghal 13y ago

MapBox announcement seems to be not more than a couple of months old. If you think that someone can take inspiration, get data, process, QA test and launch such a feature in such a short duration, you should be impressed anyway. Google Earth had 3D for a long time. Vector maps is again a huge undertaking and takes time to get right. Some companies didn't take their time, some did.

stevehawk 13y ago
But they didn't make Google Earth. They bought it from a small company that was partially funded by the CIA.
- mayanksinghal 13y ago
  So was the case with Apple, if my sibling is correct. I am just trying to say is that there is plenty, like a lot lot, of innovation in Google Maps - from devices that make it's own mapping data to using WebGL to render it in 3D in browser. To claim otherwise, with incredibly weak argument as in the original comments, is either lazy or dishonest.
hnha 13y ago
I have no idea how to sort by date in Flickr' idiotic new design but Charlie Loyd (vruba) has been posting images about the project for >8 months, probably talking about it even longer.

throwawaay 13y ago

You're so absolutely and completely wrong that you're probably trolling, but: Google implemented vector maps on Android long before Apple introduced their own maps (i.e. ~years). Likewise, 3D buildings have been available through Earth for years, and rendering them in Maps was an obvious next step. Ultimately, both Apple and Google launched 3D at right around the same time. Last, as a sibling poster pointed out, if you think all of this was started in reaction to MapBox's work (earliest public mention I found was April 1st) and completed less than 3 months later, then that's just fucking admirable execution right there. But alas, that probably wasn't copied either.

andrewljohnson 13y ago
Now that you say it, you're totally right about the vector maps thing. I don't think it's impossible cloudless aerials were inspired by MapBox though... I think you and your sibling overestimate how hard it is to chop up and process imagery with a cluster of computers.
- throwawaay 13y ago
  The new base map imagery was preceded by the Timelapse release last month, which used basically the same techniques on historical data. See: <http://world.time.com/timelapse/> http://world.time.com/timelapse/> and <http://earthengine.google.org/> http://earthengine.google.org/>. It ought to be pretty clear that both of these have been in the works for a long time. If you seriously believe that _any_ mapping provider (including Microsoft, Nokia, or Google) hasn't been actively removing clouds from their imagery for a very, very long time, then you haven't been paying attention. No one needed MapBox to give them the idea of removing the giant patches of white obscuring everything in view. In any case, your willingness to comment on a subject that you obviously know little about -- and then extrapolate your wrongness into a statement about the industry -- is impressive. Every sentence of your original post is wrong.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - 13y ago

mberg 13y ago

The language and examples in the blog post above seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from posts by MapBox below. Regardless of whether or Google was working on it in advance or not - it's a feature I imagine you can't afford but not copy. Giving some attribution to the concept or at least a shout out to MapBox for pulling this off seems at least warranted. http://www.mapbox.com/blog/cloudless-atlas-with-landsat/ http://www.mapbox.com/blog/cloudless-atlas-with-landsat/ http://www.mapbox.com/blog/huge-mapbox-satellite-update/ http://www.mapbox.com/blog/huge-mapbox-satellite-update/