Google maps- Front yard - Close Up - Street View (Earth: cost, stores)

[Bo]

Here's an article (with pictures) about the technology behind Street View that I enjoyed. Be sure to read the comments, which provide info not in the article.

Chatting with a Google Street View Driver - eKstreme.com

[StanStelle]

It looks like Google has been doing another round of photographing San Antonio. This time they seem to have captured most of the areas outside 1604, including Stone Oak, Sonoma Ranch and Alamo Ranch. They even got into my gated subdivision. Our residents are not supposed to allow another car to trail them in so I was hoping the Google car photographed the car that it followed inside, but it looks like they got in through an adjoining subdivision whose gate malfunctioned and was wide open.
The images are only about a week old since they captured my Christmas lights which I just put up.

[sapphire]

My house is on there now.

[wCat]

It's amazing how much has changed since the first googlebot round.

I was able to capture a birdseye of some things that have been torn down on since Virtual Earth did it's thing. Just for posterity sake!

[TexHwyMan]

It actually looks like they've pretty much covered the entire state now. If you pull out to a statewide view and pull the little street-view guy onto the map and hold it, you'll see nearly all the roads and areas around all the cities in the state are now covered. I looked at streets in Boerne, Bulverde, New Braunfels, San Marcos, and Kerrville.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by TexHwyMan

It actually looks like they've pretty much covered the entire state now. If you pull out to a statewide view and pull the little street-view guy onto the map and hold it, you'll see nearly all the roads and areas around all the cities in the state are now covered. I looked at streets in Boerne, Bulverde, New Braunfels, San Marcos, and Kerrville.

That makes me think of a question that you would likely know the answer to. How many miles of public streets and highways are there in Texas?

I'm curious how much driving was behind all of that photography Google produced.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by Bowie

That makes me think of a question that you would likely know the answer to. How many miles of public streets and highways are there in Texas?

I'm curious how much driving was behind all of that photography Google produced.

I'd like to know how many drivers they have....and the cost behind this technology! Google is certainly doing WELL in this recession to fund this little project. I'm sure the return in hits on their sites is paying off in bucket loads.
I'm honestly surprised at some of the "places" they have "googled" and have lived through it!

If I had to pick, however, I prefer Virtual Earth's birdseye view better than the street view....especially with the 360. It covers areas much closer than an aerial and a lot of areas that don't have streets. I've found though that there are a lot of rural areas that are not include....so that's a bummer!

[Bo]

Originally Posted by wCat

I'd like to know how many drivers they have....and the cost behind this technology! Google is certainly doing WELL in this recession to fund this little project. I'm sure the return in hits on their sites is paying off in bucket loads.

Probably because it is so successful, from what I've read, those details are a closely-guarded secret at Google. The drivers sign Non-Disclosure Agreements and aren't allowed to let people examine or photograph the car-top setup.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by Bowie

That makes me think of a question that you would likely know the answer to. How many miles of public streets and highways are there in Texas?

There are about 80,000 miles of state-maintained highways in Texas, and that is reportedly 26% of the total of all roads in Texas, so that yields about 306,500 total miles of roads in Texas.

[SA08]

I think the street view is cool & spooky at the same time.

I've heard Google stores every search you make & now they have pictures of our homes....way too "big brother" for me.