Google Reshapes The Globe — The Globe’s Coordinate Systems At Least
Years ago, through Peter Dana’s tutorials and other sources I learned about alternative tracking systems to be used as a substitute or enhancement to the geographic standard of latitude/longitude reference systems. Except for a line inscribed in the floor of the Royal Naval Observatory, Greenwich, latitude and longitude are not directly related to the earth … nor are they necessary to define a position on the earth’s surface.
We grew used to using lat/long though and it seems to have become a world standard. Doesn’t mean there isn’t room for another standard, especially one able to be expressed in standard textual methods and one capable of being expended in accuracy over and over:
NAC Enhanced Google Earth Flies You to Natural Wonders with Universal Addresses
Thursday, 16 August 2007
August 20, 2007, Toronto, Canada, NAC Geographic Products Inc. announced the release of the NAC Enhanced Google Earth (NAC Earth) with a new user interface to bridge Natural Area Codes (NAC) and Google Earth through Google Earth’s COM APIs to provide a truely language-independent, geographic coverage complete and highly efficient way for users to fly around, search nearby businesses and get driving directions on Google Earth no matter a destination is a famous museum with street address or a newly found natural wonder without street address…
Very useful idea and very interesting potential for the future of location-based services. Can we get the world to change how they express position? Sounds like a daunting task to me, but if anyone can do it, I’d bet on Larry and Sergy.