4 ms·

Google Earth Engine

77 points by o0-0o 12y ago

leeoniya 12y ago
does anyone else dislike the whole WebGL experience that google is using for maps, earth and also this. the performance is just laggy and terrible...in all browsers. i've switched back to classic maps and it loads instantly, zooms instantly and is overall a superior 2d experience.
- 4ad 12y ago
  Yes, me too. Google Maps seems to be getting worse and worse in my experience. I started using OpenStreetMap. Lots of features are missing, but what exists actually works. And it turns out I never used Google Maps-only features anyway.
  - agumonkey 12y ago
    I almost started to surrender to the latest gmaps until I used bing maps which reminded me how simple and smooth the previous gmaps was. OSM is nice too now.
- higherpurpose 12y ago
  Maybe it's time for Google to adopt asm.js. That should give those WebGL apps enough performance boost to work well. I'm starting to dislike their support of NaCl anyway. They don't even bother to support it well enough on ARM. If something doesn't work on ARM, then it shouldn't exist, anymore. I think it's well established by now that ARM is a main, if not the main chip architecture of the future. There should be zero difference between the support for an x86 Chromebook and an ARM one, but years after working on PNaCl, it seems it's still not supported well enough.
- cconcepts 12y ago
  I personally hadn't said anything because I thought I was missing something or had poorly configured chrome, it has seemed like a step backwards to me. Thanks for confirming my sneaky suspicions.
- campbellmorgan 12y ago
  Yes I thought it was just because I used chrome on linux (which struggles with webgl). The most frustrating thing is the way it ignores anything you put in the search box until the page has fully loaded which is usually 3-4 seconds...
- _wmd 12y ago
  Not to mention the optimized-for-touch experience, where a single click (or too short a drag) is sufficient to clear your search result. Or the over-abundance of context-sensitive animations and popups that jump around. Since the redesign, I still have no clue where they moved the permalink button. It's not even a case of "I'm a techie, therefore I hate (it|change in general)", regular consumers uniformly say the same thing.
  - Nullabillity 12y ago
    Looks like your URL now constantly changes to your permalink automatically.
    - thrownaway2424 12y ago
      Yes, it does. Which also means that if an errant click or touch blows away your search result, just use the back button.
- diltonm 12y ago
  I love it, works great on Ubuntu, doesn't bother me if it's not quite as snappy, will stick with it.
- bane 12y ago
  I really dislike it too. Performance is terrible and the interface has become a game of "which corner or hidden menu is this basic functionality buried under?". But it's getting better. Street view is improved and you can finally add multiple destinations, but it's still a usability nightmare. I don't know if this was part of some grand scheme to unify Earth and Maps, but it's been a really rough ride.
  - garblegarble 12y ago
    >the interface has become a game of "which corner or hidden menu is this basic functionality buried under?". That, to my mind, is the cornerstone of Google's UI direction in the last few years - I've been having an increasingly harder time working out (and remembering) how to use their interfaces
deft 12y ago
test
spindritf 12y ago
The Google Earth Plugin is currently only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.6+. Pity. Can I use Google Earth proper somehow?
- pllbnk 12y ago
  You can download full Google Earth desktop application for Linux. That's the best way to use it on any platform in my opinion.
qwertzuiopasd 12y ago
a nice n.y.d. service (not yet deprecated)
- hellbanner 12y ago
  You were downvoted but this is a valid comment on Google's services -- they don't publicise their maintenance plan.
mohamedattahri 12y ago
Funny how the copyright of this page dates back to 2012.
hellbanner 12y ago
So.. is this why Google was working with GIS data? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8459996 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8459996

77 points by o0-0o 12y ago

does anyone else dislike the whole WebGL experience that google is using for maps, earth and also this. the performance is just laggy and terrible...in all browsers. i've switched back to classic maps and it loads instantly, zooms instantly and is overall a superior 2d experience.

4ad 12y ago
Yes, me too. Google Maps seems to be getting worse and worse in my experience. I started using OpenStreetMap. Lots of features are missing, but what exists actually works. And it turns out I never used Google Maps-only features anyway.
- agumonkey 12y ago
  I almost started to surrender to the latest gmaps until I used bing maps which reminded me how simple and smooth the previous gmaps was. OSM is nice too now.
higherpurpose 12y ago
Maybe it's time for Google to adopt asm.js. That should give those WebGL apps enough performance boost to work well. I'm starting to dislike their support of NaCl anyway. They don't even bother to support it well enough on ARM. If something doesn't work on ARM, then it shouldn't exist, anymore. I think it's well established by now that ARM is a main, if not the main chip architecture of the future. There should be zero difference between the support for an x86 Chromebook and an ARM one, but years after working on PNaCl, it seems it's still not supported well enough.
cconcepts 12y ago
I personally hadn't said anything because I thought I was missing something or had poorly configured chrome, it has seemed like a step backwards to me. Thanks for confirming my sneaky suspicions.
campbellmorgan 12y ago
Yes I thought it was just because I used chrome on linux (which struggles with webgl). The most frustrating thing is the way it ignores anything you put in the search box until the page has fully loaded which is usually 3-4 seconds...
_wmd 12y ago
Not to mention the optimized-for-touch experience, where a single click (or too short a drag) is sufficient to clear your search result. Or the over-abundance of context-sensitive animations and popups that jump around. Since the redesign, I still have no clue where they moved the permalink button. It's not even a case of "I'm a techie, therefore I hate (it|change in general)", regular consumers uniformly say the same thing.
- Nullabillity 12y ago
  Looks like your URL now constantly changes to your permalink automatically.
  - thrownaway2424 12y ago
    Yes, it does. Which also means that if an errant click or touch blows away your search result, just use the back button.
diltonm 12y ago
I love it, works great on Ubuntu, doesn't bother me if it's not quite as snappy, will stick with it.
bane 12y ago
I really dislike it too. Performance is terrible and the interface has become a game of "which corner or hidden menu is this basic functionality buried under?". But it's getting better. Street view is improved and you can finally add multiple destinations, but it's still a usability nightmare. I don't know if this was part of some grand scheme to unify Earth and Maps, but it's been a really rough ride.
- garblegarble 12y ago
  >the interface has become a game of "which corner or hidden menu is this basic functionality buried under?". That, to my mind, is the cornerstone of Google's UI direction in the last few years - I've been having an increasingly harder time working out (and remembering) how to use their interfaces

deft 12y ago

test

spindritf 12y ago

The Google Earth Plugin is currently only available on Windows and Mac OS X 10.6+. Pity. Can I use Google Earth proper somehow?

pllbnk 12y ago
You can download full Google Earth desktop application for Linux. That's the best way to use it on any platform in my opinion.

qwertzuiopasd 12y ago

a nice n.y.d. service (not yet deprecated)

hellbanner 12y ago
You were downvoted but this is a valid comment on Google's services -- they don't publicise their maintenance plan.

mohamedattahri 12y ago

hellbanner 12y ago

So.. is this why Google was working with GIS data? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8459996 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8459996