Google Earth has somehow made maps interesting, in fact I could go so far to say Google has made maps fun. Just the other day I was showing Moscow (via Google Earth) to a friend who has recently returned from Russia; I can tell you it made for a far more interesting conversation than looking where she had been in an atlas.
The its so exciting watching a tech like this, which has basically been a stagnant field for years, come to life. Even better still Google Earth just seems to get better all the time, just look at the 100+ cities that where added or updated recently.
Unfortunately Little old New Zealand hasn’t had any data added but Australia has had a face lift and the data in places like New York in the US have significantly increase in resolution, with cars now clearly visible.
I can’t wait to have my home town in high res, but from some reason I have a feeling it isn’t something that will be coming anytime soon.