My new addiction

Streetview.  How I love it.  Takes snooping to a whole new level.  Within minutes of its release i'd googled my house, my sisters house, my local pub, my favourite pub, my favourite shops, the man being sick outside Pool Bar, my friend Paul outside his office - the fun was endless.  And then after a while, I got a bit bored of it and went back to work (sorry JP...)

But not everyone likes streetview.  Not Pool Bar man, who has had that image taken down, or the man walking into an 'adult' shop.  Google have been very compliant and have promised to continue to remove any images that people oppose to.  Which means we will end up with a weird semi-mapping tool that has lots of gaps and blurred images which is a real shame.  Probably due to snoopers like me.  I find it a shame that digital innovation is now overshadowed by privacy issues in most cases.  Rather than commend the positives of digital mapping and visualization tools (all of

London

in your pocket, seriously how great is that?), they are instantly blasted for being intrusive, dangerous and encouraging crime.

 

However on the sunny side, I'm quite excited about the first streetview mash up and can't wait to see what people come up with and which advertisers get on board and start to use it as a customer or creative tool.  Imagine an augmented reality map that overlays the inside of houses or shows internal architectural structures like x-rays or secret underground tunnels for gamers.  No more getting lost looking for places on long streets – streetview it and you know what end number one is and number 300 is.  It could be an invaluable tool for estate agents with virtual walks around the neighbourhood, not to mention a cost cutting tool in place of bespoke photography.  Until then I’ll just have to make do with looking up my local.