Mapping Like It's 1999
Microsoft recently released its online mapping software, MSN Virtual Earth, in response to the excellent Google Maps.
Despite reports that Microsoft has nuked Apple's campus, it turns out they're using horribly out of date imagery. A quick look at Penn's campus reveals that Hunstman Hall has suffered a similar fate. Considering the groundbreaking ceremony was in 1999 and those satellite images show no sign of construction, I'd say the MSN Virtual Earth data is at least 6 years old. It is definitely older than 9/11 — the twin towers are still there.
I have nothing against Microsoft in particular, but they're just asking for it when they enter a market months after the competition with a clearly inferior piece of software. What resources does Google have at its disposal that Microsoft doesn't have to be able to get clearer, closer, not to mention color, satellite images that aren't more than half a decade old?
