Thought Experiments : The Blog

Friday, March 20, 2009

Google Street View - A Considered Assessment

Well, I had a go on Google Street View. The pictures were taken last summer - we were so young so carefree! I looked at the houses of people I know - the squalor, the squalor! And then, after about two minutes, I did something else. What is this for? I suppose in years to come when somebody gives you their address a picture of their house generated by the Google chip embedded in your prefrontal cortex will appear before your eyes as well as that of the chiropodist they visited the week before to have that pesky corn removed. I can't wait.

# posted by Bryan Appleyard : 7:04 AM  

9 Comments:

  • At March 20, 2009 7:13 AM, Blogger Thankful Paul said…

    Hello! :)

     

  • At March 20, 2009 9:12 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Wow I can see my house. . . . But then again I can do that every day I suppose.

     

  • At March 20, 2009 9:52 AM, Blogger mahlerman said…

    Trust you picked up the piece the other day about the entrepreneurial genius who used the street view to locate the houses with lead on their roofs - they show up darker it seems - after which, naturally in these tough times, he popped around during the evening hours and relieved them of this burdensome metal. Don't you love it?

     

  • At March 20, 2009 9:59 AM, Blogger Recusant said…

    As far as I can see it's only use is to check estate agents descriptions, In fact I've just done that - need to rent somewhere for a few months whilst the builders trash the house and invent ways to bump up my bill. Interesting that 'well positioned and lively location' actually means, 'between the off-licence and the Chines restaurant and you can't see the pavement for rubbish'.

     

  • At March 20, 2009 10:24 AM, Blogger Mark said…

    Apparently these maps often contain a mysterious character in a stripey jumper and with a stick of some kind. I thinking butterfly net. It's not Nige, is it? Using Google Street View to check for butterfly hotspots sounds a decent reason to use it. Hard to think of many other reasons.

     

  • At March 20, 2009 10:31 AM, Blogger Bryan Appleyard said…

    Could be Nige, Mark, he can sometimes act a bit 'special'.

     

  • At March 20, 2009 1:21 PM, Blogger Gordon McCabe said…

    Perhaps Google Street View should include special tags identifying the houses of well-known bankers.

    Now that would be a fulfillment of a public-service ethos.

     

  • At March 20, 2009 3:30 PM, Blogger malty said…

    You urbanistas have my sympathy, CCTV, congestion charging, indigestion, loopy property prices, nobody speaks, having estate agents and lawyers for neighbours, wife swapping parties, look Brazilian and bang your dead, and now Google is goggling at you, shame, never mind, things can only get better.

     

  • At March 22, 2009 11:10 PM, Blogger mutleythedog said…

    I have used it to admire a house a good friend is buying and it was quite fun for that...

     

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