“And the number of open source mapping tools is also on the
rise, making it easier for programmers to add mapping features to
their apps without having to tie themselves to a particular mapping
provider.“Online mapping used to be simple: go to a Web site, enter an
address, and view the street map of the surroundings. Then came a
series of innovations from Google, who sent out teams of drivers
with car-mounted cameras to capture the street view, showing homes
and other buildings as they drove by. (Google also got into trouble
with capturing open Wi-Fi networks as they photographed things, but
let’s not get into that imbroglio right now.)”