Do Google Maps change our view of the world?
An article at Wired says Google Maps is changing the way we see the world. The article says that by letting millions of people add data to maps, entire regions are being remapped with much greater detail:
Whether it’s citizens appearing at local zoning-board meetings with elaborate Google Earth presentations or the Air Force using the app to reach victims during Hurricane Katrina, the new mapmaking is about much more than spotting your house in a satellite photo. “This is about individuals as local observers, creating their own map data,” says Michael Goodchild, a professor of geography at UC Santa Barbara. “It’s 6 billion pairs of eyes.”