Google Street View leaves the street
October 25, 2012 4:17 PM   Subscribe

Google's Street View jumps the curb and enters the Grand Canyon, with Trekker.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (16 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I should make an offer to Google to strap one of those to my kayak or raft on my next trip down the Canyon -- 280 miles of river in three weeks.
posted by JackFlash at 4:54 PM on October 25, 2012 [3 favorites]


Has Google streetviewed the summit of Everest yet?
posted by jacquilynne at 5:02 PM on October 25, 2012


There's streetview on the summit of Whistler. A less arduous trek but still a mountain. Also, they used a snowmobile.
posted by GuyZero at 5:04 PM on October 25, 2012


Will they blur the eyes of the burros as well as the tourists?>
posted by wheelieman at 6:04 PM on October 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


Sweet. Maybe I'll see the sock I lost near Phantom Ranch in 1998.
posted by stltony at 6:56 PM on October 25, 2012


I wonder if Google's eventually just going to fly a bunch of drones around to map out places there aren't roads?
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:49 PM on October 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'm going (again! for 25 days!!) this February. If they want pictures from Lee's Ferry to Diamond Creek, we'll take a Trekker with us. Thoughts on how to reach out to Google? That's 225 miles of gorgeous canyon you can't hike along.
posted by now i'm piste at 8:42 PM on October 25, 2012


^Really? Why would you or anyone else want to have your trip encumbered by lugging around a 30+ lb camera rig?

Also, does anyone else feel some of the magic getting ripped out of these places if they become a simple street view? I know everyone takes cameras with them on their trips now but it's nothing as comprehensive as this.

I guess I can take solace in the fact that they won't be taking these off trail, up rock faces, vertical ice, and most mountain tops. Well, at least for the next 5 years.
posted by zephyr_words at 8:55 PM on October 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


zephyr_words: "^Really? Why would you or anyone else want to have your trip encumbered by lugging around a 30+ lb camera rig?"

Actually, I weighed my digital camera rig the other day. Backpack, color DSLR, infrared DSLR, six lenses, extensions, filters, cards, batteries, tripod, etc. tips the scales at just a hair under 40 lb. Once I add in a gallon and a half of water, a day's rations, and a first aid kit, more like 50. Kinda blew my mind that it was so heavy - but if that's what ya gotta do to get the job (whatever the job) done, you do it.

(actually, that sounds like a blast!)
posted by notsnot at 9:15 PM on October 25, 2012


Eat your heart out, MApple
posted by ReeMonster at 10:40 PM on October 25, 2012


zephyr_words : Also, does anyone else feel some of the magic getting ripped out of these places if they become a simple street view? I know everyone takes cameras with them on their trips now but it's nothing as comprehensive as this.

I've been down that trail, camped on the inner rim--you can lean over the bars, and it seems as if you could piss all the way down, two thousand feet, into the river. It was the night of a full moon, we watched the magic show, when the red-rays shifted to silver and all the shadows reversed. Then the moon rose over the north rim.

I've seen pictures upon pictures of the Grand Canyon. No picture can take away what magic passes through the naked eye.

Once I took a picture from Mather Pass, and showed it to some friends when I got back down from the mountain. I don't know how else to say it but this way: they enjoyed the picture, but I earned the view.

Looking over the website, peering past the guys (who were) all rigged up with their camera gear, I looked, trying to see the canyon, and felt a little of how it was, all those years. Every year on my first trip of the season, I remembered again why I kept returning.

Go Google. It ain't magic, but it'll do.
posted by mule98J at 12:02 AM on October 26, 2012 [4 favorites]


Exactly. The first time I saw the Grand Canyon in person I almost wept. But I'm still glad this exists for those that can't make the trip.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:36 AM on October 26, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also, does anyone else feel some of the magic getting ripped out of these places if they become a simple street view?

Not in the least.

I know everyone takes cameras with them on their trips now but it's nothing as comprehensive as this.

Do people go for comprehensive photographs of the places they visit or do they shoot what they want to take with them? Also, I'm pretty sure Street View lacks things like different lenses, composition, etc.
posted by juiceCake at 7:00 AM on October 26, 2012


Do people go for comprehensive photographs of the places they visit or do they shoot what they want to take with them? Also, I'm pretty sure Street View lacks things like different lenses, composition, etc.

That was my point. People have been documenting parts of trips but nothing on this scale. This is new and different.

mule98J: That's certainly true on many levels. I've rarely taken and photo or seen one from a partner on a trip and thought wow that lives up to what I'm seeing and experiencing.

notsnot: To me your rig is a lot different. You're going on a trip with a strong photography goal in mind. If someone was to trade that in for the google rig they aren't going to be able to get close to the same level of photos. They're basically just working their ass off for a bunch of random panoramas. If that was someone's goal they may as well get a goPro.
posted by zephyr_words at 10:07 AM on October 26, 2012 [1 favorite]


Trekker? Pfft. Trekkies are the real die-hards.
posted by xedrik at 12:20 PM on October 26, 2012


I kind of have mixed feelings about people being able to see my trail. However, I totally want that job.
posted by RedEmma at 1:14 PM on October 26, 2012


« Older Modern Thinking   |   Every Year of the Twentieth Century, Lampooned by... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments