Long Overdue
This is a blog post I had
intended to write some time ago, but did not find time to write it or this
subject had drifted away.
Google Stopped Taking Pictures In Germany
“In April 2011, Google decided
to stop taking Street View images in Germany” (
Wikipedia). Germans
can be very parochial and myopic.
What Germans don’t see are the
enormous benefits of this project. Just the thought of being able to wander
through the most famous streets, places etc. of the world at any time from my
computer at home or even from my smartphone is mind boggling.
I believe, most of the
concerns raised against Google Street View can be easily ameliorated by current and available software
technology, e.g. automatically graying out faces, license plates etc. Are Luddites
only a past phenomenon?
Personal Experience
Not long ago I wanted to
identify the multi-dwelling house in which my maternal Grandmother lived in the
city of Frankfurt am Main. I had some faint memory of what it looked like and
where it was located.
Since I live in the USA I
would have to travel to Germany to physically walk through the street to refresh
my memory. Thus I thought, I use Google Streetview from the comfort of my home
in the US and view the pictures of this short and narrow street not far from
downtown. However, as I was viewing the images of the multi-story buildings lining
this rather typical residential neighborhood, I noticed that a large number of
dwellings were not visible due to redaction. Thus, my effort was practically
thwarted by the residents of this street. Thank you very much!
