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Google Mapquest Driving Directions Comparison
By Mikhail Alexandrov
The younger you are, the easier it is to take technology for granted. Whether you are jaded or, like me, more easily entertained, I find mapping programs like Google Maps simply astonishing. The people who have built this technology over the last 10 years are brilliant. If you never used this wonderful service, go to maps.google.com now. It doesn't matter where you are going... the shortest most up to date driving instructions and road maps are moments away. I have been using G-Maps for a quite some time. Their technology continually advance, and alongside with it, the detail of the maps has gotten better significantly. There are other main web properties that provide geo mapping with great success as well. The big 3 are Google, MapQuest and the granddaddy of them all, Rand McNally. What follows are cursory reviews of G-Maps, Map Quest And Rand McNally maps, reading them should shorten your learning curve when you arrive. I switched to Google Maps after using Map Quest for nearly 9 years (more about Map Quest below). What spoiled my allegiance after all those years, was reading the instructions at Google Maps. You know, when all else fails read the directions? It is an astounding piece of technology which will present you with both maps nearly anywhere in the world and detailed driving instructions in many countries. Google maps is incredibly feature rich and their tutorial does a way better job of explaining it than we can. With that in mind, let's deal with the main features, you will find plenty more when you explore the website. All of Google Maps is based on actual earth satellite imagery. You can quickly locate Physical maps, Political maps, Road maps and Topographic maps anywhere on the planet. You can zoom into St. Peters Cathedral in Vatican and actually distinguish tourists walking around or see the cars entering the on ramp of the Brooklyn Bridge. Map overlays can be added for almost anywhere as well. Another exclusive tool of Google Maps is that it allows you to adjust the route it has laid out for you, simply by dragging the route marking to another spot. We often know alternate routes, learned by experience that we want to use. The other services will not let you change the path... with Google Maps it's easy. Rand McNally has been making maps since 1872, if you do the math, what you'll notice right away is that's a very long time. All truck stops in the US as well as large gas stations retail Rand McNally atlases. They are mostly in the printed map business but also have a website that provides on line maps and directions. They are a good way to cross check directions from other services. Map Quest has been around since the good old days of the internet... 1996... so by e-standards, it's very mature if not ancient. AOL bought it in 2000 and remains in charge. I have used these guys thousands of times and they always deliver. They have remarkable maps for the US, Canada and Europe but are weaker in the rest of the world in their quality and detail. US instructions are totally detailed and usually very accurate. In some growth areas they can be a little behind, simply because of trying to stay current with new growth can be challenging. The last chief goodie on Map Quest, is that it will search for the least expensive gas or diesel no matter where you are in the US. It's a great way to keep an eye on your fuel budget and it only takes 30 seconds. Between the three of these websites, you should be able to find your way around anywhere on the earth. |
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