Inside the early days of Google Street View
See the original posting on The Verge
It’s almost hard to remember now, but once upon a time, before its invasion of everything from World Cup stadiums to the Galapagos Islands, Google Street View was just a van with a goofy camera rolling around San Francisco. Iain McClatchie, who was hired on to the Street View team in early 2006, has a new blog post up recounting the project’s early days: the government-funded research project that was a forerunner to Street View, the first turret-like cameras, and the launch of country-wide maps for Australia (traffic for which broke the site on release). There were misfires one generation of camera wasn’t approved for outdoor use but the project’s success ultimately led to near ever-growing coverage of the world and clever solutions…