Their company motto is “Don’t be evil,” and it seems that they’re not.
Without Google Maps, Google Earth and Streetview, I could not have written my book, couldn’t have even conceived the idea. These services, free at the point of use, have surely transformed our lives and societies.
I remember what driving was like, before sat nav, when we would have to pull into laybys to pour over paper maps and peer at road signs, to find our way to a new location.
I remember when we would have to drive to visit a place, or depend on postcards or photos, to see what it looked like and some people do miss those times, but I don’t.
I love to wonder about a place, pull on my VR headset and activate Wander, to virtually transport myself there. With VR cameras becoming ever more affordable, the scope of what we can see there constantly widens. In just a few years, there will be only a few places we can’t virtually visit and explore, in the comfort of our sofas.
“It’s not the same as actually going,” is the familiar refrain, and it’s not, I agree. It’s affordable and convenient, not requiring tedious airport-dwelling or cramped and environmentally unfriendly planes. Okay, you don’t get to breathe the air of the place, but pretty soon, that will be the only thing lacking. Smells can be simulated, sounds already are. Touch is in the pipeline. Taste might require your own cooking and, granted, you can’t actually dive into the azure warm waters of the tropics from a distance of thousands of miles.
But that’s what our imaginations are for, right?