Google Earth vs. Reality

on 12.09.06, 12:16pm in computers • comments (12)

Last night, Michael and I were chatting and thought it would be interesting to compare a Google Earth image to one in real life. Check out the view from the top of Mount St Helens:

At the top!

I took the one on the right back in 2000. At the time, there wasn’t a giant pushpin in the side of the mountain. :)

12 Comments

    JeffMc (December 9, 2006 @ 7:03 pm)

    Hasn’t the push pin been pushed out by the recent lava flow? Maybe why you didn’t see it in 2000 ;)

    Michael (December 9, 2006 @ 9:39 pm)

    I really like that both images show the mountain in the background (Mt. Rainier if I remember our conversation correctly.) I’m impressed Google Earth’s draw distance goes out 50+ miles.

    Steve (December 9, 2006 @ 10:17 pm)

    Yup, that’s Mt Rainier in the background… :)

    Sean McLeod (December 10, 2006 @ 10:36 am)

    Check out the Virtual Earth version in 3D. Use the mousewheel to zoom in a bit more to get the higher resoluation textures.

    http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=46.195824~-122.216812&style=h&lvl=16&tilt=-27.2803974449205&dir=55.5438025573038&alt=2643.07622203976

    Cheers

    Steve (December 10, 2006 @ 2:00 pm)

    Unfortunately, Virtual Earth 3d doesnt work on the Mac. I keep getting “To use this feature, open Live Local Search in Windows Internet Explorer version 6 or 7. For more information, and to download the latest version, visit the Microsoft Internet Explorer website”.

    Bummer.

    Sean McLeod (December 10, 2006 @ 9:13 pm)

    Yep, the 3d engine is an ActiveX/.Net component. Compared to the screenshot you posted the Virtual Earth seems to have a higher resolution DEM and higher resolution textures.

    Steve (December 11, 2006 @ 9:31 am)

    Well that stinks. Who wants a ‘web 2.0′ application that’s based on a plug in component that I can only use in a single browser.

    Michael (December 11, 2006 @ 10:38 am)

    But if you *could* see it, it would be higher resolution!
    :-) ROTFL.

    Steve (December 11, 2006 @ 3:10 pm)

    Well, even Google Earth is a download - seperate app though. Bummer I have no way to view this at all on a Mac, let alone outside of IE.

    Tony (December 13, 2006 @ 8:21 pm)

    In the Internet age a company needs to support IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5, Firefox 2.0, Safari 2.0 and it should even figure out how to support mobile devices.

    What I don’t understand is Microsoft’s horrible Live team. It is horrible because everything they create doesn’t work on the Mac. Have you tried any of their new services in Safari? Nothing works. It is simply unacceptable. They can say it is only 2% of the market, but is an influential market and incredibly important.

    If you want to be productive in this day and age, use Google or Yahoo, forget about MSN and Live.

    That One Dude (December 19, 2006 @ 6:14 pm)

    Who cares about IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5, Firefox 2.0, Safari 2.0 when Opera is the ONLY GOOD BROWSER. Firefox has just been copying from Opera same with the other companies and they still haven’t copied all the features how lame is that. Sure Opera can’t read all sites properly but with its ‘glitches’ you can poke loop holes the size of Jupiter in some sites. Opera is efficient in everything from the disabling images on sites so us dialup people can surf internet faster to some sleek skins that are simple and cut out for working not horsing around when you have all the pretty crap on your other browsers!

    Mike Sweeney (December 25, 2006 @ 12:01 pm)

    Steve,
    Check out Google Earth for the route from Lukla to Gorak Shep. It’s looks easy but we know better than that.
    Best Wishes for the New Year,
    Mike
    Trekker Trash 2001

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.