The First Google Maps War(opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com)

opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/the-first-google-maps-war/?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp

11 comments

techiferous14년 전

Slightly off topic, but there are some insanely convoluted borders in the world, the worst of which is Cooch Behar: http://bigthink.com/ideas/21160?page=all

Also, the border between Belgium and Netherlands: http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/baarle.htm

jballanc14년 전

You think that's bad? Have you ever looked at the way the islands of the Aegean are divided between Greece and Turkey? There are a number of Greek islands that lie almost completely within bays of the Turkish mainland, and there are a number of places where you could literally swim between the two countries.

On the same topic, I found it interesting that Google just completely doesn't label Imia/Kardak. They just appear as blank spots on the map.

kizza14년 전

Google Maps can display different borders depending on your locale: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/staticmaps/

region (optional) defines the appropriate borders to display, based on geo-political sensitivities. Accepts a region code specified as a two-character ccTLD ('top-level domain') value.

Drbble14년 전

This story was reported in 2010. Is there anything new in the 2012 NYT rehash, or other developments?

Half_a_Bee14년 전

The reporter read about it and thought, with what's going on in Syria, Afghanistan, etc. that it'd be a good use of column-inches to yammer on about a "war" that was never going to escalate into an armed conflict.

tagawa14년 전

Indeed - he talks about the First Google Maps War (and later the possibility of a Second), yet the first line of the article admits it was "almost" a war. Sensationalist headline IMO.

techiferous14년 전

Also of note: a border dispute between Canada and Denmark took place using Google in 2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Island#Google_fight

eurosmoove14년 전

Google Maps also contributed to the ongoing dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over Preah Vihear.

TechNewb14년 전

>>Rather, and this is the dangerous part of the whole enterprise, Google Maps’ imprecision reignited a long-standing border dispute that, with a few miscalculations, could have led to a real war.

Hard to have a "real war" without a real standing army.

stickfigure14년 전

There are still plenty of land mines in the east of Nicaragua...

JordyB14년 전

I have always wondered where Googles border information comes from.

This article also shows you have to be very careful with things like this. I would never have thought a dispute like this would happen due to Google putting a border in the wrong place.