Páginas: 4 (840 palabras)
Publicado: 9 de diciembre de 2012
Eight years ago Google bought a cool little graphics business called Keyhole that had been working on 3D maps. It turned out to be a very smart move.
Along with the acquisition came Brian McClendon,a tall and serious Kansan, who had supplied high-end graphics software used in films including Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.
Today, McClendon is Google's Mr Maps - presiding over one of thefastest growing areas in the search giant's business; one that has recently left rival Apple red-faced and threatens to make Google the most powerful company in mapping the word has ever seen.
Google isthrowing its considerable resources into building what is arguably the most comprehensive map ever made. "It's all part of Google's self-avowed mission to organise all the world's information," saidMcClendon. "You need to have the basic structure of the world so you can place the relevant information on top of it. If you don't have an accurate map, everything else is inaccurate," he says.Advertisement
It's a message that will make Apple cringe. The company triggered outrage when it pulled Google Maps off the latest version of its iPhone software for its own bug-riddled and often wildlyinaccurate map system. "We screwed up," Apple boss Tim Cook said this week.
McClendon won't comment on when and if Apple will put Google's application back on the iPhone. Talks are ongoing and he's atpains to point out what a "great" product the iPhone is. But it will be a huge climbdown. In the meantime, what McClendon really cares about is building a better map.
This not the first time Googlehas made a landgrab in the real world, as the publishing industry will attest. But its ambitions in maps may be bigger, more far reaching and more controversial. For a company developing driverless cars- the governor of California signed a law last month to allow driverless cars on the state's roads from 2015 - and wearable computers in the form of glasses, maps are a serious business. There's no...
Along with the acquisition came Brian McClendon,a tall and serious Kansan, who had supplied high-end graphics software used in films including Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.
Today, McClendon is Google's Mr Maps - presiding over one of thefastest growing areas in the search giant's business; one that has recently left rival Apple red-faced and threatens to make Google the most powerful company in mapping the word has ever seen.
Google isthrowing its considerable resources into building what is arguably the most comprehensive map ever made. "It's all part of Google's self-avowed mission to organise all the world's information," saidMcClendon. "You need to have the basic structure of the world so you can place the relevant information on top of it. If you don't have an accurate map, everything else is inaccurate," he says.Advertisement
It's a message that will make Apple cringe. The company triggered outrage when it pulled Google Maps off the latest version of its iPhone software for its own bug-riddled and often wildlyinaccurate map system. "We screwed up," Apple boss Tim Cook said this week.
McClendon won't comment on when and if Apple will put Google's application back on the iPhone. Talks are ongoing and he's atpains to point out what a "great" product the iPhone is. But it will be a huge climbdown. In the meantime, what McClendon really cares about is building a better map.
This not the first time Googlehas made a landgrab in the real world, as the publishing industry will attest. But its ambitions in maps may be bigger, more far reaching and more controversial. For a company developing driverless cars- the governor of California signed a law last month to allow driverless cars on the state's roads from 2015 - and wearable computers in the form of glasses, maps are a serious business. There's no...
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