|
|
|
Online Map Services | View information about Online Map Services within our Technology Website Reviews section by reviewing this area of our website. We provide a wealth of information online to help our visitors become better informed about Computer Buzz. |
|
Online Map Services
|
|
|
|
Here at Computer Buzz, we like maps. Maybe we're strange―or maybe it has something to do with our previous involvement with the oil and gas business―but we've got maps hanging on all the walls in our computer labs and corner offices. And we know where to go to find more maps on the Internet too.
When we say "maps," we're also talking about aerial photographs of the Earth. In many ways, the photos are even better than the maps. The Internet is a fabulous source of free maps and aerial photographs. Come with us and let us show you some of our favorite map service web sites.
And as we do, please try to remember the venerable credo that has been passed down through the centuries from one generation of cartographers to another:
"North is at the top."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Google Maps | website review
|
|
Right up there with Yahoo is, of course, Google Maps. GM has excellent street maps, excellent aerial photos (particularly of most densely populated areas), and "hybrid" views that combine the best features of both. They even have a "traffic" version of the map view that shows real-time congestion on major motor routes!
As with the other aerial photo services, GM is at the mercy of whatever aerial/satellite photographs happen to be available, so high density population areas tend to be higher resolution photos, and rural goat pastures are often disappointingly fuzzy.
The maps can be repositioned onscreen by dragging or with the navigation buttons. Response time is as good as, or better than, any other mapping service we have found.
And, of course, you can search for goods, services, and street addresses to your heart's content.
Computer Buzz recommends Google's mapping services without hesitation.
Official Website: www.Google.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
MapQuest | website review
|
|
One Internet mapping service that needs no introduction is MapQuest. You've used it many times, probably for locating goods and services in your local area. Where the data are available, you can switch between a map view and aerial photos with major cultural features superimposed.
Navigation is simple and intuitive. You can drag the maps and photos around the screen with your mouse. When you do, you're dragging a lot of bits and pixels through your own hardware, so it helps to have a fast CPU and an even faster Internet connection to avoid herky-jerky map motion.
You can look up business locations and street addresses with MapQuest (that's really all it's intended for). It's nice to know the ZIP code for your search (if it's in the US), but it's not required. Computer Buzz has found that, in many cases, the manner in which MapQuest indicates the exact location of a street address is actually just an approximation and sometimes a rather general one. That said, we're still amazed that MapQuest can do the fabulous job that it does.
Official Website: www.MapQuest.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yahoo! Maps | website review
|
|
One of the very best Internet mapping services is Yahoo. Their maps have a degree of detail, colors, and shadings that none of the others can boast. Be advised that the boondocks are usually rendered in lower resolution aerial photos than the bigger cities.
Not only does Yahoo have aerial photos, it also has an intermediate "hybrid" view that overlays just the major cultural features on the photos. We find that we use hybrid view more than all the other views combined. And all the maps can be dragged around the screen with the mouse as well as repositioned with the perimeter buttons.
You can search for goods and services and addresses either with or without ZIP codes. Response time to keyboard input was excellent. Yahoo's maps are a class act all the way. Highly recommended by Computer Buzz.
Official Website: www.Yahoo.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft Virtual Earth | website review
|
|
Microsoft's Virtual Earth (MSVE) mapping platform is an integrated set of services that combines unique bird's eye, aerial, and 3D imagery with self-styled "best-of-breed" mapping, location, and search features. Virtual Earth's enterprise functionality is targeted at business and government agencies, but you can view the maps and photos without writing Bill Gates a check.
MSVE does not have a map view as such. It has an aerial photo view and a "hybrid" view with cultural features (mostly roads) overlaid upon the photos. Computer Buzz finds hybrid views to be the most useful, so we don't fret about the absence of map view. Moreover, in most of our test areas, the quality and resolution of MSVE's aerial photos matched or exceeded those of the other services.
You can search by location, and once there you can drag the photos around; there are no navigation buttons. Response time is reasonably good in most areas.
Virtual Earth is a good product, and we recommend it.
Official Website: maps.Microsoft.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask.com Maps | website review
|
|
Ask.com (formerly aka "Ask Jeeves") is not a household word like Microsoft, but Computer Buzz finds that its mapping service uses the exact same high-res, detailed aerial photos that Microsoft's Virtual Earth does in many areas. And you can either drag the maps or use the navigation buttons to move around. Screen response to mouse and keyboard input is excellent.
Ask.com has the same street map view and "hybrid" view (aerial photos with cultural features superimposed) as most of the other Internet mapping services. And it has one significant feature that the others don't―a "physical" view in which the major roads are superimposed upon a terrain map that has been shaded to resemble a pseudo-3D topographic rendering. It's hardly worth the trouble in flat places like Iowa and Delaware, but the Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon really stand out.
Computer Buzz sez, "Check it out."
Official Website: www.Ask.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Flash Earth | website review
|
|
And then there's Flash Earth. It's every bit as good as most of the other major Internet mapping services combined, for the simple reason that it IS most of the other major Internet mapping services combined. From a single home page (www.FlashEarth.com), you can access Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo Maps, and Ask.com Maps with a single click. There is no separate Flash Earth map service per se; it's just a compilation of these other four (plus a couple more specialty sites, including NASA, thrown in) that is neatly and conveniently packaged all at a single URL address.
Once you have selected a geographic location of interest, you can easily click from one constituent map service to another to see what kind of coverage is available from each one. Trust me; they are NOT all the same. If you only have one map/aerial photo URL bookmarked in your browser, THIS is the one you want.
Official Website: www.FlashEarth.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
MapsOnUs | website review
|
|
A mapping service that hasn't really taken off yet is MapsOnUs (MOU, a service of Switchboard.com). It's a MapQuest look-alike wannabe that isn't quite ready for prime time. Its maps are more or less on a par with those of MapQuest, but it does not have an aerial photo view option.
Admittedly anecdotal was our experience with the MOU server; it was slower than we would have liked or expected―certainly not as brisk as MapQuest's, but still usable. Unfortunately, you can not drag the maps with your mouse. Navigation is strictly by the buttons on the perimeter of the map window. Hope you like north, south, east, and west.
While there is no particular reason to eschew MapsOnUs, neither is there any reason to prefer it over MapQuest. Let's give it a chance to mature and come back and take another look at it in a couple of years.
Official Website: www.MapsOnUs.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Perry-Casta'eda Library Map Collection
|
|
The Perry-Casta'eda Library Map Collection (PCLMC) at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the most comprehensive repositories of miscellaneous world maps in all of Western Civilization, and now it is available online.
The PCLMC web site is substantially different than the other Internet map sites on our list. Its maps are not interactive, they're frequently out of date, and it includes few aerial photos. But it contains all sorts of miscellaneous map data that the other sites do not. You can find map info on a country's population density, vegetation types, and chocolate milk production per capita. The sheer volume of cartographic information that is yours for the taking absolutely boggles the mind!
The large majority of the PCLMC maps are available for download in PDF format, and they can be accessed, for the most part, via an old-fashioned alphabetical hierarchy that's as easy to navigate as A, B, C.
Computer Buzz sez, "Hook 'em!"
Official Website: UTexas.edu/maps
|
|
|
|
|
|
| View Top Level Index |
|
|
|
|
 |
