This morning my roommate alerted me to the fact that our house, formerly known as Camp Special and yet-to-be renamed, is now on Google Street View. Rather than give you a link to Google — and thereby reveal my home address to the entire planet — I’ve taken a screen shot. [Here's a larger resolution.] It’s not a bad picture. It was taken before my roommates and I moved in (none of those cars are ours).
Personally, I think Google Street View is a little creepy in the big brother sense. I also think it’s overkill, much the same way I think Google Earth is overkill. Having online driving and walking directions is fantastic, but this level of detail simply isn’t necessary.
What are your feelings about Google Street View? A useful utility or an invasion of privacy?
FOLLOW-UP: Google Street View Upgrades to a Trike
I like streetview, google earth and another service offered by MSN called Birdseye view. Birdseye is an off center aerial taken from a helicopter or plane. When you combine these services you can get a nearly 3-D view of lots of places. It may be a little creepy from the big brother perspective but since streetview is taken from public roads there’s nothing there that you can’t already see by just driving by. I use google earth a lot at work because it’s a simple and cheap GIS program with most of the features that i need. I use g-earth at home when i’m going out in the woods to find new places that i want to explore and get a general layout of the area. It also works for me because i’m a visual person, especially when i’m going somewhere.