Google has become so much more than just a search company in the past years, that I wonder how they would define themselves today. When you think about it, Google offers a whole suite of Web-based (and desktop-based) softwares for free. Many of their products have outgrown their initial purpose to become priceless tools of our everyday lives.

In the case of Google Maps for example, the mapping service goes way beyond spotting a geographic location and telling you how to get there. First, thanks to crowdsource efforts, it is smart enough to show you the cheapest gas stations around. Not only will it drive you around, but it will tip you on which roads to take to avoid tolls. Those two tools alone can help anybody reduce their car-related spending.

This positions Google very closely to our transportation habits. The Mountain View juggernaut has pushed a bit their product in a fantasy world by adding street view to their map. This means that you can save even more gas dollars by checking out a home and its neighborhood from your computer screen. An increasing number of real estate companies are adding in street view to their sites. One could start to argue that Google Maps is a transportation mean all to itself (like a car or a plane).

My point is not to say that I will spend the week end in Vegas on Google Maps, no. However, all those elements perfectly show that Google thrives to become a major provider of transportation solutions. The project RechargeIT is the perfect example to illustrate this idea. RechargeIt is a project to design an electric car which tank you fill up with sunlight. Here is a short explanatory video from the Google.org team:

The next generation of cars will be smart cars, and what was initially a project to create and share maps online is quickly turning into a crowdsource wisdom for electronic devices. Google Maps is the cornerstone of all this, and so we at Click2Map are proud to be a part of this cultural movement.

xavierv

Tags: cars, gas, google maps, real estate, rechargeIT, tolls

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 9:22 pm. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If you are curious to learn more about us, visit Click2Map: Try our free plan to build your own professional maps.