Google Maps… you’ve heard it before: Internet giant Google offers a free mapping system, called (you guessed it) Google Maps. While free maps are a dime a dozen on the web, Google takes a comprehensive, cutting-edge approach. Which means you can get basic maps, satellite images from a mix of both. Great fun, but a useful tool for the tourist? I took Google Maps for a test drive in Ireland.
What is Google Maps?
Among the dozens of tools available on Google, Google Maps combines Google’s origins as a search engine with cutting-edge technology – you can put in a search term (geographic) and get a satellite image and map.
In addition to related information from the empire of Google, most of it geared towards revenue generation. In short: wait for announcements.
Search terms can be specific or general, and search engine behavior can be annoying at times. I put in Glendalough, and they immediately took me to Australia. Smart Search is not a feature, although Google tries to predict your main interest via your IP address (if it’s Irish, expect more Irish results). Lesson One remains: always specify at least the country, better the county! The more specific the search term, the better the Google result will be.
Now Google Maps is quite a “holistic” tool. You can choose to show only a schematic map. Great for a quick reference. Or you can choose to go for a satellite image with a map overlay – my personal opinion of the latter feature constantly oscillates between “cool” and “annoying.” The map overlay also shows how basic these maps can be, especially in rural areas… satellite images showing quite a few unmarked roads. And sometimes the map overlay is a few hundred feet from the image layer.
However, this will only be relevant when steering a Predator drone on final focus. For the normal driver, “take first left” generally stays the same.
You can also zoom in and out: the search engine will initially choose the display size that it considers best suited for your search term. But keep in mind that not all satellite images have the highest resolution. Our own house is a pixel bubble, the farm a few hundred meters away much clearer. But it is a free tool after all.
Using Google Maps
It’s as easy as ABC… place your search term, refine your search (if your search term was ambiguous), expand. The actual handling of the maps is very intuitive, mastered in seconds.
The downside: you need a computer of average modernity and power. The old clunkers cannot handle the data in real time. But most laptops, tablets, and smartphones handle this just fine. And more importantly, you need a pretty good connection to the web. The last of these especially can make the use of Google Maps in the field practically impossible for the traveler. Or it will cause such costs (for data transfer over a mobile phone connection) as to make the alternatives viable from the start, even though the service is free.
Google Maps is absolutely great in the planning stage at home or in a hotel room, especially in combination with Streetview. Or after the holidays to retrace and relive your experiences.
Google Maps compared to conventional trip planning tools
Overall, I would rank Google Maps among the smartest online tools available, to be used in addition to conventional planning tools like guides or websites. While satellite images are excellent, the information contained can sometimes be sparse and also subject to distorted perspective (see below).
The mapping section is, how should I say … computer friendly. It contains necessary details like road names, but it stops there. Additional information, from height indicators to feature suggestions, is often simply not there. In this regard, any large-scale map purchased from Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) wins hands down.
The pitfalls of Google Maps
Here are some things I noticed in everyday use:
- Uneven coverage quality
- While the city of Dublin looks good in detailed satellite images, some deep and confusing shadows in the city center keep it from being great. Glendalough is great, but Clonmacnoise is nearly invisible and Tara just drowns in confusion. Keep in mind that Google Maps occasionally zooms beyond sense, leading to dramatic losses in image quality.
- Unusual point of view flattens detail
- The Dublin Spire on O’Connell Street is Dublin’s highest landmark, but it cannot be seen. Only his shadow gives him away. The reason: you look down … ideal for scanning a building design, if it actually has a significant horizontal dimension. The Cliffs of Moher and Slieve League look decidedly unimpressive from space.
- Dangerous sense of security
- Always remember: Google Maps distorts! The Grand Canyon looks like a manageable indentation from above and on a two-dimensional screen. Never, ever plan a hike across the country without first consulting a detailed map. I recently discovered a basic map that mentioned that the observation point on the Magho cliffs in (Lower Lough Erne) was “just a short walk” from a jetty. Apparently, no one had realized that while the horizontal distance was only 500 yards, the vertical distance is around a thousand feet …
- The “Face on Mars” effect
- Remember all the buzz about the sphinx face on Mars? It was a trick of light, shadow, and unusual perspective. Be careful to interpret the satellite images quickly: I showed the city of Dublin to a friend who commented that she never knew that Dublin had so many channels. In reality, these were the deep shadows of tall buildings on wide streets, indistinguishable from the royal canals and the Liffey. Beware of wild geese chases …
However, the biggest danger with Google Maps may be the amount of time you have available for other things – it is very addictive and will start looking for your grandmother’s house, famous places around the world, Area 51 and other things.
A final verdict
Google Maps is a great tool and has become the go-to tool on the web. It’s a fun tool to play games or do some research. Although a good map will give you more geographic details, it won’t show you which houses have rooftop gardens – practically useless information, but who knows when it will be useful?
