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Google Earth Redesigned

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Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#111

Post by JetSpiegel »

heavymark wrote: post #80
neilsimp1 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really liked having a separate application to open for Google Earth instead of a browser. I take it this won't be an option any more?

Chrome allows you to turn any website into it's own app, but saving a website such as Google Earth to your bookmarks then drag that to chrome://apps and right click on it and choose Open Full Screen and create short cut. So it will you will be able to open it like an app and find it in spotlight/alfred and you can still use chrome for websites separately.

An "app". Just a glorified browser page without chrome. You can achieve the same thing with a shortcut.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#112

Post by cannam »

kmfrk wrote: post #77

I think it's a little funny and symptomatic of HN that we can't take a minute to fucking marvel at the fact that we've got something like this in the first place without going over the font or the whatever. Technology is amazing and moving rapidly, and if we can't take out five minutes to revel in an achievement like this, I don't know what the point is.

I'd like to agree, but this does nothing in Chromium on desktop, does nothing in Firefox, and won't run in Chrome on my Android phone. It's not much more than hearsay to me that it exists at all. I think a certain amount of HN-grade irritation about that is understandable.

(I'll try it under Windows when I get home, and then maybe feel more celebratory.)

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#113

Post by smonff »

andy_ppp wrote: post #62

Embrace and Extend the web with Chrome only apps like this. Google are basically old Microsoft at this point.

It looks like a very good shinny little toy to convince those who have not Chrome installed yet that Chrome is a good browser.

It surely is, but for me, it seems weird that a huge company like Google will give you these marvelous toys for free and they don't take anything in exchange.

What I mean is that putting people in a g-bubble like this is bad. I also wonder what the shinny 3 dimensional thing can add as a value to a standard map. In term of education for example: people don't even know how to read a map without a GPS and a map app now. I don't say that map apps are bad, but I don't know...

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#114

Post by dsacco »

flippyhead wrote: post #100
kmfrk wrote: post #77

I think it's a little funny and symptomatic of HN that we can't take a minute to fucking marvel at the fact that we've got something like this in the first place without going over the font or the whatever. Technology is amazing and moving rapidly, and if we can't take out five minutes to revel in an achievement like this, I don't know what the point is.

I find myself often thinking this. Louis CK sums it up really well when he says "everything is amazing and nobody is happy": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8LaT5Iiwo4

I love Louis CK. That's one of his best bits in my opinion. Also perhaps one of the most accessible ones, as his humor can be a bit puerile :)

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#115

Post by markdog12 »

mattmanser wrote: post #109
kmfrk wrote: post #77

I think it's a little funny and symptomatic of HN that we can't take a minute to fucking marvel at the fact that we've got something like this in the first place without going over the font or the whatever. Technology is amazing and moving rapidly, and if we can't take out five minutes to revel in an achievement like this, I don't know what the point is.

Devil's advocate, what exactly can this do that we couldn't do 10 years ago? What achievement are we revelling in? That they've managed to replicate something a desktop app could already do in javascript?

It's actually using native code via PNaCL. I know it only works in Chrome, and it'd be nice if it was WebAssembly, but maybe they're using stuff that WebAssembly does not yet provide, like threads, simd, etc..

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#117

Post by criley2 »

smonff wrote: post #113
andy_ppp wrote: post #62

Embrace and Extend the web with Chrome only apps like this. Google are basically old Microsoft at this point.

It looks like a very good shinny little toy to convince those who have not Chrome installed yet that Chrome is a good browser. It surely is, but for me, it seems weird that a huge company like Google will give you these marvelous toys for free and they don't take anything in exchange. What I mean is that putting people in a g-bubble like this is bad. I also wonder what the shinny 3 dimensional thing can add as a valu…

* They didn't know how to read maps before

* They still can't read maps and gps today, they just follow instructions

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#118

Post by nothis »

kmfrk wrote: post #77

I think it's a little funny and symptomatic of HN that we can't take a minute to fucking marvel at the fact that we've got something like this in the first place without going over the font or the whatever. Technology is amazing and moving rapidly, and if we can't take out five minutes to revel in an achievement like this, I don't know what the point is.

While I agree that it's funny (see Louis CK's cell phones and flying rant), it's IMO a weak argument when you think about it in earnest. This is a post about redesign, so we talk about the redesign. Also if you go further down, the device you're even typing this on is a mind-blowing wonder machine by any historic standard. Heck, the chair you're sitting on is! Things are getting better. And if no one ever complained, they wouldn't.

Re: Google Earth Redesigned

#120

Post by dullgiulio »

mattmanser wrote: post #109
kmfrk wrote: post #77

I think it's a little funny and symptomatic of HN that we can't take a minute to fucking marvel at the fact that we've got something like this in the first place without going over the font or the whatever. Technology is amazing and moving rapidly, and if we can't take out five minutes to revel in an achievement like this, I don't know what the point is.

Devil's advocate, what exactly can this do that we couldn't do 10 years ago? What achievement are we revelling in? That they've managed to replicate something a desktop app could already do in javascript?

That's only part of the marvel. The other part is the data that enables this. I am not sure 10 years ago Google had the 3D planimetry data it has now (I am looking at my small hometown and seeing it all in 3D, for example.)

Other than that, the web version has some new features, possibilities etc., compared to the old desktop version. But that's more debatable perhaps.

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