05/08/2008

Virtual Tokyo

I was searching Google Maps today to find how to get to a restaurant for a friend's birthday (can't believe he's 50!), when I noticed that Google has just launched the Street View of Tokyo. It is pretty impressive. I mean this is a damn big city! And they seem to have pretty much covered the whole place. They even have the building I live in on there, and I live in a back street of a fairly sleepy part of town.

I'm not totally sure I feel about it yet. Part of me is going "Cool! Check this street out... over here! We can totally see how to get to that restaurant!" while the rest of me is going "Um, well. Yeah, so. What about privacy and, um, the enjoyment of not actually knowing what a place looks like before you go there? You know, the joy of discovery... in the real world!"

Hopefully these two sides of me will eventually work out their differences. Until then here is where I would take any of you the first time you come visit.Walk around if you like... or save it until you can really do it.

1 comment:

pinnie said...

do you think it invades your privacy any more than walking past on the street does? I can't decide