What’s so Cool About the new Google Earth?

Last night my husband—who went to college for mapping—was sitting on our couch staring at his phone. Suddenly, he got up, grabbed a Coldsmoke Scotch Ale from the fridge, and sat down at his laptop with a big ass grin on his face. "What's up?" I asked. "A new Google Earth just launched," he told me with delight. 

My map-obsessed husband was not the only one in a fit of excitement after the launch last night. The Internet was talking, so I logged in. 

The first thing I noticed when I "googled" Google Earth is that you don't have to download the application to your desktop anymore, you can just open it right in Chrome. Super convenient. Then, I did what most people do when they go on Google Earth: I searched for my house. Then I searched Mount Everest, and Denali, and my childhood home, and NYC (because what's a big city look like, anyway?), and Mongolia because I really want to go skiing there. 

As I searched I noticed a lot of cool new things with the update. The resolution has gotten even better. There are "Knowledge Cards" that pop up at 20,000 different locations that expand and give you more info about the place. Google Earth also collaborated with BBC Earth with the Voyager feature and you can go on all sorts of different educational and beautiful virtual adventures that will have you absorbed for hours. 

Overall, the new features are as fun and wonderfully time-sucking as ever and the program runs really smoothly inside the browser. 

Go ahead, get distracted.

About The Author

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stash member Leslie Hittmeier

Leslie is a freelance writer and photographer. Storytelling is her focus and she spends her time following badass skiers and climbers around in their natural habitats. As an obsessed skier and climber herself, she plays and trains in the Tetons.