The big, big picture

A century later, when colour photography was well on its way, no one in their wildest fantasies could have predicted that the day would come when a photograph could be made of the entire world and would be made readily available to virtually anyone.

But now, with the rapid advancement of computer and satellite technology, that wild fantasy has been realized in the form of Google Maps — a handy feature sitting on the desktop of anyone connected to the Internet.

Think of that — the whole planet, with nearly every road, river, and town clearly labelled and visible in one huge aerial photo.

It is the ultimate atlas, only you don’t have to rely on a limited selection of maps that might not include the place you’re looking for. With Google Maps, you go where you want, anywhere in the world, and zoom in on what you want to see.

Conventional maps show us everything we might reasonably need to know about a region, from distances between points and the extent of urban sprawl. But they have always left a certain aspect to the viewer’s imagination. Seeing that urban sprawl for yourself — thousands upon thousands of tiny roofs spread over an area — gives you a much more accurate image of a city, one that a map could never properly convey.

The photograph is also handy in dispelling myths. For instance, anyone who immediately thinks of Calcutta as an overcrowded, impoverished city, only has to scroll over to India and zoom in on it to realize that this reputation is not entirely fair. They see with their own eyes that Calcutta also has its share of quiet, upscale residential areas with plenty of green spaces and other genteel features — an entire middle- and upper-class reality that rarely, if ever, finds its way into Western consciousness.

The concept is not new, of course, in fact Google Maps and Google Earth have been around for a few years. But a recent update has improved the site considerably. Now the satellite photo includes the names of all streets and other landmarks, which makes browsing much easier, and new features such as Traffic will help the out-of-towner negotiate the streets of an unfamiliar city.

I recently showed a friend the latest upgrade and was surprised to learn that he had not heard of Google Maps at all. He immediately wanted to look at his childhood home in England, which he had not seen in many years. A wave of nostalgia washed over him as he grabbed the mouse and scrolled along the very streets he had known as a child. There were the rooftops of his old house and other familiar buildings — his school, the local corner shop, the cricket oval. He could even count the cars in the parking lot of the office building where he was given his first job.

The only problem with the Google map is that the quality fluctuates from region to region. Canada’s urban centres have been photographed in fairly high quality, so you can zoom in on Montreal and see the city in great detail — but anyone searching for their country home in the Laurentians or Eastern Townships will be disappointed, for the photo loses a considerable amount of quality in the outlaying regions. The roads and towns are clearly visible, but the resolution does not allow you to zoom in very close.

The quality is generally much better across the U.S., where in New York the Empire State and Chrysler buildings appear to rise up as if being seen through a 3D viewer, and the Statue of Liberty reaches up toward you from her pedestal. You can even see each of the tourists walking around the perimeter of Liberty Island.

Perhaps the most obvious drawback to Google Maps is that it is dangerously addictive. Those who love geography will derive many hours of pleasure from it, while those with an insatiable appetite for travel — even the virtual variety — might be well advised to log on with extreme caution.