Ahwatukee – The Elusive “Google Maps Mobile Man” Caught on Camera

Ahwatukee – The Elusive “Google Maps Mobile Man” Caught on Camera

“The Elusive Google Maps Mobile Man”

How does Google do it? Click and drag on the Drag Me Man on a Google map (AKA Bathroom Man, because he looks like the guy on a bathroom door) and you jump to the 360 degree street view for the location you have searched. I have also been amazed when I use Google navigator on my Droid and a picture and 360 degree view of my destination pop on the screen.

I have wondered how they do it since I first saw the technology. I imagined little gremlins in remote control airplanes? Super secret satellite technology? How about retired military drones piloted by someone in a dark room in Google Land.

And today, what to my wondering eyes should appear? “The Google Maps Mobile Man” in his rather ordinary car with a nice paint job and camera tower on top. No top secret technology? Not what I expected but that camera did look rather complex and other worldly.

So this is how they do it. A guy, a guy who speaks English by the way, in a car, an ordinary looking car with a nice paint job, with a rather sophisticated and other worldly looking camera on top. Not really all that sophisticated. Can you imagine the cost to drive a car, even a small car on every street, not only every street in our town, but every street in every town, everywhere, with gas pushing $4.00 a gallon? Now that is an impressive project.

Nice camera! I wonder how I have missed it all these years. Hope you enjoyed seeing this as much as I enjoyed taking the picture and solving the mystery.

Allen Henderson
“The Ahwatukee Broker”