I bet people under 30 have no conception of how mind-blowing the concept of an infinitely scrollable and zoomable global map seemed in 2005. There wasn’t anything remotely like it prior to 2005.

@binarybits Wrong. Google bought Keyhole which was originally released in 2001 and renamed it google Earth - just like YouTube Only original product was search

@binarybits Never heard of MapQuest?

@binarybits hmmm... ESRI exists since 1950 for global mapping. perhaps for end-user it did not exist, but not that goog invented it.

@binarybits I remember Google Earth blowing my mind when it first came out.

@binarybits I love Google Earth but some of its functions existed in products like Encarta World Atlas. I spent countless hours exploring this when I was a kid.

@binarybits Truly amazing. Also valuable. A Tom Tom cost about $250 at the point when Google Maps became available on smartphones.

@binarybits @pranesh en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terravisi…

@binarybits Reading the comments, some people still don't understand how revolutionary it is. Pointing to antecedents that (1) were expensive, (2) had restricted user bases, (3) had difficult UX, (4) didn't work on mobile devices, etc., shows just how much we take it all granted.

@binarybits true dat double true

@binarybits I’m under 30 and still find it mind blowing every time I use it

@binarybits I still have vague memories of Mapquest

@binarybits And a whole generation have grown up not trained in offline map reading. But the online maps are immensely useful magic…

@binarybits I bought Keyhole for my dad for Christmas and it came in a BOX. Imagine buying Google Maps for someone as a gift LOL

@binarybits Well, there was as @MafVosburgh and I built it in 1994-7, but the version that wasn't tied to CD-ROMs was scuppered by financial shenanigans that left someone else with the IP.

@binarybits Cavemen like us actually printed directions when we wanted to go somewhere.

@binarybits Back in the early 2000s, I used Microsoft Streets and Trips. In 2005, Streets and Trips got GPS support with a USB adapter. I still have that GPS unit. Great bit of software! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft…

@binarybits Hard to imagine ever traveling around the country without it.

@binarybits Microsoft Terraserver was available in 1998.

@binarybits I still think that streetview is magic. Think about it for a second. How did they come up with the idea? Where is that Google now? Cutting adblockers out of Chrome...

@binarybits Navigation before 2005...

@binarybits The fact it was free was unbelievable at that time. Easily one of the best google product till day.

@binarybits Terraserver

@binarybits Replies missing the point with “No but didn’t you hear about this clearly worse product with inferior data and not as accessible to the global masses for free???” Ridiculous, GMaps was free global accurate and ever present day 1

@binarybits Bro I was like 8 when that happened and I was totally mindblown. I spent many nights just zooming around the world, sometimes even with friends. I remember looking at the nazi building, the cheese moon… it was awesome

@binarybits I remember keeping an atlas in the car. And getting my mom a Garmin palm pilot for Christmas in the early 2000s. And MapQuest printouts. Those all died once smartphones with Google Maps came along. The Hudson Map Co store on my neighborhood closed up shop a couple years later.

@binarybits That era represented a rapid transition to single-page apps like Gmail and away from navigating from one page to another (often with JavaScript being completely unnecessary). Ironically it was Microsoft that initially created XMLHttpRequest that made this possible.

@binarybits Every once in a while I open up the atlas I still keep in my car. Crazy how much things have changed.

@binarybits Thomas Bros. Maps and its CD-ROM had it in 1999.

@binarybits Yes, I still distinctly remeber the sense of wonder when I first zoomed in on my house in Google Earth in July 2005.

@binarybits Google paved the way for GeoGuesser. Google Maps true greatest accomplishment