Google Maps at 20
James Killick (via Adam Chandler):
In 2018 Bill [Kilday] wrote a book about their travails. It is the definitive, insider story of Google Maps. The book is called “Never Lost Again” and I can’t recommend it enough. Among other places it’s available on Amazon and Apple Books.
[…]
I recently had the privilege of chatting with Bill and I told him about my plans for this post. We both agreed that the timing should coincide with the 20th anniversary of Google Maps.
So, with that in mind, here we go!
It remains one of my favorite Web sites. If I could only keep three Google products, they would probably be YouTube, Maps, and Translate.
After presenting a dynamic map — now compatible with the web — Where 2 Technologies was acquired by Google for an undisclosed sum in October 2004. At the same time, Google also scooped up the satellite imagery service Keyhole, a critical component for developing Google Maps, since it opened access to scores of satellite images. In the ensuing months, Where 2 Technologies and Keyhole fused their products together, building a digital map made of satellite tiles.
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Maps debuted on Feb. 8, 2005, and Lars remembers it immediately disrupted the entire Google system.
“It actually almost destroyed Google’s data centers,” he said in the podcast. “Rather, it clogged the pipes with all of those tiles of mapping images flying back and forth, almost used all of Google’s bandwidth. It was amazing. It was a huge hit from day one.”
Now, on the eve of Google Maps’ 20th anniversary, the 54-year-old Australian software engineer [Stephen Ma] has had a change of heart. He wants to write himself back into the foundation story – as well as acknowledge others whose contributions have been overlooked or undersold.
Previously:
