Google Maps: MapPoint over the WWW
I finally caved in and used Google Maps to see what all the buzz was/is about. WOW. I actually stumbled across it after doing a generic web-wide search in Google for "apartments in Redmond, Washington", should my job interview with MSNBC.com pan out. Blog posts abound from the general community with how cool the site is, and software developers from all walks of life have joined in a rare feat of unification to collectively praise Google's efforts for pulling off this accomplishment of modern computer sciece - on the client. It's arguably the key AJAX-driven cog in a suite of really cool applications like GMail, Google Suggest and Google Earth.
But the deeper appreciation I have for Google Maps today is that it's almost perfectly replicating the desktop Microsoft MapPoint 2001, a copy of which I got for free from , ironically, MSNBC years ago. I thought the zooming, panning, and search features were so cool, but remember saying to myself, "This is going to kick so much ass once we have the ability to do this kind of thing on the Web." Most of the key features of MapPoint exist in Google Maps, such as driving directions, and I'm hopeful to see what Google's got in store for mobilizing interactive mapping for the wireless market, inline with what it's already doing with the PDA-friendly version of its search service.
It's outstanding that someone's taken the facilities to do such intense communication work between client/server (XMLHTTP) and render it within a single page, really putting the technology into practice a fun app that anyone can use, whether for serious research or playful recreation.. It really blew me away. I can't recall the last time I was this moved architecturally by something on the public Web.