I've gotta tell you, I'm having big fun with Keyhole. I just "flew" from Cleveland to Chicago in ten minutes. Explored downtown Paris, Lake Tahoe and Wrigley Field in one cup of coffee. Just go to keyhole.com and download the free 7-day trial (less than 10MB) and start flying around the world courtesy of satellite photography and some slick navigation software. Tilt, rotate and "fly" as high or as low as you like. As long as you have DSL or cable you should get good results. The whole planet is available, although the U.S. and certain large foreign cities (Paris, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Baghdad) are "mapped" in more detail. I'm guessing that some of the photography is months or even a year or more old based on the look of certain areas around my home.
I would think the product could have terrific consumer appeal as well as business applications. They're getting $29.99 for a personal license and $599 for company use. Check out your proposed vacation spot. Type in any address and get there by satellite camera. Bookmark favorite locations, capture images, measure distances, turn road names on or off, program guided tours. This is the coolest new product I've seen on the web in many moons. Just do it. As one blogger said, "Four hours after downloading, I was left stunned, speechless, and a little nauseous. Download it now, and prepare to do nothing else the rest of the evening." That's about right.
Google acquired Keyhole in October, and the earliest blog reference I could find was Sept. 22, but I'm not sure how long they've been around. I can't help thinking, wow, these Google guys are smart. Maybe that's why they're zillionaires. Yes, this is thirty bucks I will spend. The golfing applications alone are worth that.
Posted by dan at November 26, 2004 01:16 AM