Actually, it didn’t, although it should have. According to this Australian press report, the brand-new Google Maps Australia has a strange notion of how to get from Google headquarters in Sydney to a hotel across the street.
While unlikely, perhaps this laughing matter will lend some slight comfort to those who are concerned that Google’s free mapping and satellite photo applications are being exploited by enemy combatants in war zones. Although I suppose even a misguided mortar has to land somewhere. … I jest, of course.
And speaking of the latter post, I received this reply to it from a reservist who is an IT director:
As a reserve soldier who spent nearly 18 straight months in Iraq I can tell you, the Google Maps are unbelievably detailed. I can also tell you that it’s a pretty crappy that anyone, Google or you, cannot see it but one way, Google should remove those images, at least for the time being. You should remember that the soldiers are over their dying so you can live free in the U.S. Keep in mind, none of us were asked if we wanted to go to war or if we agreed with it; that is up to our elected leaders, not the soldiers. We just do as we are told.
As I told the writer, I am not philosophically opposed to Google self-censoring in certain cases. I also believe that the lines are not nearly as easily discernable as critics of Google would like to believe.
