Google maps beta
Just heard about the
Google maps beta. It's
very sweet, much better than MapQuest or Yahoo Maps.
- The maps scroll nicely when you click on a direction indicator, unlike the competition which does a full screen redraw that can take a long time.
- You can search for competing businesses. My first attempt was "car rentals in Santa Cruz", which got all the ones I know of, including one in the next town north.
- The links for searches are simple, such as <http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Santa%20Cruz%2C%20CA>, not multi-line monstrosities like other mapping sites.
- The presentation is very useful. If you search for a particular address, you get a closable pop-up over the map asking if you want directions to or from the location.
OK, they don't support Safari yet, but they fully cop to it on the front page and promise to work on it. Overall, the look and feel is quite Google.
Posted by lookit at February 8, 2005 06:27 PM