For all who are able to read (and understand) the german language: there is an interesting article by Martin Soutschek about recent development and impacts caused by Google Earth & co on the geo scene available on Runder Tisch GIS e.V.
I totally agree with all outlined points why Google Earth, Google Maps, etc. are “cool” and “sexy”, but I would like to add one more aspect: the deep personal link between user and geo data created by those spatial applications. What I really could observe on people while they where using Google Earth was that they where searching for places they know. Of course this is a well known habit when people use maps, but suddenly people could see their house, hometown, street, etc. from bird’s eye view. All the abstraction, the hard work done by cartographers, was gone. People identified themselves with what they saw on the map, with all the objects displayed on a image of the world as they know it. Without the use of this partial high resolution imagery this effect wouldn’t have occurred. To bind users on a grand scale one has to access subconscious emotions.
Another point is a result of the impressive usability. Those new services are in general fast and easy to use. A result of this handy usability is that people can use this electronic maps in a way they did it with traditional paper maps. Google Earth allows one to add and save marks on the map, people used to mark their personal points of interest on paper maps. Because of the new map media new methods of map use were found. Now it’s possible to see what other people mark on their maps, one can share places. Freely available APIs inspired developments like geotagging, to add coordinates to photos or other web content and link it with certain places. The way how people interact with digital maps is changing. I think people have fun using those maps. Instead of just using maps to find the shortest connection from A to B they certainly enjoy them.
Sure, Web 2.0 is the buzzword of the year, but I think the cartographic adaptation towards Map 2.0 explains somehow the user-centered approach of those new generation spatial applications.
However, it’s hard to predict what’s coming next. If this whole thing is just a huge geo bubble which will implode soon or if geo applications will soon be an essential part of our everday life. Still more interesting is how GIS industry, cartographers, public authorities, etc. will take part in this development and react on the invasion of companies like Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, etc. into their territory.
Another point of view on Google Earth brought in by a colleague (a planner) of me: “Google Earth is the proletarysation of geoinformation” – freely available geoinformation for everyone!
I hope Austria will follow soon. Next year the Euro 2008 is happening here and the main stadium in Vienna still looks a bit fuzzy. Some parts of Austria are well covered by 
