Google gods give Reading high-res treatment
Now, I have to be careful. I love Google, but I’m working for one of their rivals, so must-tread-carefully-here. Oh whatever, I will say it: Reading is now available in high-resolution on Google Earth, the most magnificent application I have seen all year.
Google Earth allows you to see the world – the whole world – close up, as snapped by satellites.
Type in Reading, UK and you are whooshed across the globe towards our wonderful town. Reading opens up before you, in all its digital glory. And not a cloud in sight (not sure how the Google techies managed this). Try entering your postcode. You are transported to that locale.
Now what? You can rotate. See Reading upside down! You can zoom in and out. Your current altitude and grid reference are printed on the screen. What’s Reading like at 5,000ft? Zoom in and see. What’s it like at Everest height – 29,000ft? What’s stopping you?
You can drag. In fact, you can drag until, well, you find it a drag, really. Drag from Reading to Rimini to Riga to another city beginning with ‘R’. Or wherever.
And now the ooh bit. You can tilt the map. Now we see Reading’s topographical features. Now you see that the Thames Valley is indeed a valley, with the hills rising north of the town. Simply put, Reading is in three dimensions. The last time I saw the town so clearly from this perspective, I was looking out from a United Airlines 777 on our approach to Heathrow.
And now more oohs. Click buttons and the town’s roads and services are labelled. Leave a placemark with a message for other Google Earth online users to see. Measure the distance from one end of a road to the other. You also need a machine powerful enough to run it. And you must have broadband.
Google Earth’s Reading is not perfect, however. Several small parts of the town are mysteriously “greened” out. Why aren’t these areas covered? These will be addressed in future, I’m sure.
Time to return to my map. Now whose swimming pool is that, I wonder?
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