Google Maps Platform now integrated with the GCP Console | Hacker News Reader

Google Maps Platform now integrated with the GCP Console

cloudplatform.googleblog.com

60 pointsdeesix18 comments

"Thirteen years ago, the first Google Maps mashup combined Craigslist housing data on top of our map tiles—before there was even an API to access them."

Funny they pick out Craigslist, who as far as I'm aware, use OpenStreetMap because clearly Google maps doesn't work for them (cost presumably).

Funnier still because Craigslist themselves have filed multiple lawsuits against such mapping sites (e.g. PadMapper) for scraping their site for listings.

> use OpenStreetMap because clearly Google maps doesn't work for them (cost presumably).

I worked on the map feature while at Craigslist about 6 years ago. Launching this on their own servers at the time (vs using Gmaps, which was the obvious choice) was a serious and important technical feat.

The decision to use OSM (as far as I remember) had to do with supporting open source (The company made a donation to OSM right after launching), keep user data within its servers and (as a distant third reason), keep the style more homogeneous with their layout.

Would have been nice if they actually linked to that original mashup: http://www.housingmaps.com/

(Gosh, it's been a while since I've heard the term "mashup" :)

Is it just me or has the Google Maps API died a slow and lonely death?

I remember a time when every week there would be an exciting new Google Maps 'mashup', game, or design concept built using the Google Maps API. Developers were constantly trying to one up each other in the Maps game. It was like one giant maps party that went on for several years. Can you name an API that has had that much buzz or rabid excite from both developers and non-technical spectators? I think not.

Now it just seems like developers have lost interest because Google decided to shit all over the party by making their API more restricted and expensive. It became all about $$$ so they started to slap expensive bill on developers' side projects that got a little too popular.

The fuck was Google thinking...

And yet developers still use Googles stuff, supporting them.

It's exactly like in the 90's with Microsoft. It wasn't hard to see that it would happen with Google as well, because it always does, to all giant companies, due to the structure of capitalism we use.

I'm curious what you all think of GCP Console?

Compared to AWS? i find it slow and glitchy, the UX + material UI adds too many clicks to get the what i want.

But on the plus side:

- easily switch between multiple Google accounts (vs. the utter pain of using multiple AWS accounts)

- the "cloud shell" is nice

- switch from wizard point-and-click to generate the equivalent SDK CLI command in the "cloud shell"

Interestingly enough I have the complete opposite reaction. I find the various AWS consoles to be fragmented and obtuse compared to GC, which feels pretty organized to me.

It works, but not too much more to say. Azure Portal UI completely blows GCP and AWS out of the water.

What do you like most about Azure Portal UI?

Microsoft always had great UI's and shitty programming.

Most of it is not too bad, just a little slow, and it has some nice features. The UX of the main menu, however, is terrible. Scrolling through it is incredibly slow because the submenus are synchronously expanding while scrolling, and I've had a submenu get so stuck I had to refresh the page to be able to interact with anything.

> The UX of the main menu, however, is terrible. Scrolling through it is incredibly slow because the submenus are synchronously expanding while scrolling, and I've had a submenu get so stuck I had to refresh the page to be able to interact with anything.

Thanks for the feedback, fixes are on the way for the issues you mentioned. :)

It's ridiculous the story is about enabling smaller developers when they just screwed a bunch of small developers with their pricing changes with only 30 days notice...

"do no evil"...

Google maps has really been disappointing me lately. Specifically it's not showing all my markers. So I go somewhere and try to find some restaurant I know I marked but there are no markers on the map. If I'm lucky and I generally remember where it was I can try clicking on restaurants. If I happen to find it the info shows that it's still marked but no mark appears on the maps.

This is seriously scary. I get there is probably some limit on the number of markers they want to show but not showing some of the markers is like losing part of me memory. Imagine if they started not showing contacts in your contact list or not showing emails in gmail.

Hoping they fix it even if it requires some new UX. I guess I was hoping they'd at least load the markers spatially so that as I zoomed in they'd pull in the markers for that area but apparently that's not what's happening ATM.

I've had the exact same experience. Also has many issues with local guides, labels disappearing and so on. It really feels like an unloved product.

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