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Comment by bawolff | Hacker News Reader

Im kind of confused - they're saying its a problem for reporters and people trying to investigate, but also that other providers provide high resolution imagery.

I feel like both those things can't be true. How can it be a problem if you can just get the needed images from non usa companies?

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Up-to-date high resolution imagery is quite expensive. Most of Google maps imagery is generated from an older database of images. Businesses like Maxar (formerly Digital Globe) that provide Earth imagery will sell a database of old out-of-date imagery for much cheaper. But more recent imagery is much more expensive because it is much more valuable. These companies will often provide free images that are up to date to help with disaster and recovery efforts but that doesn't mean it has been put in to Google maps yet, a lot of it just still an old database of imagery.

In Summary:

- Old out-of-date imagery: $

- Newer up-to-date imagery that has been captured: $$$

- Tasking a spacecraft to request image of a specific area: $$$$

Like all data -- new and high def data costs a lot more than something a couple years old. Data ages out.

random question, but where would one acquire old out of date imagery of this part of the world?

For example, I know through Google Earth's timelapse feature that Gaza has been consistently scanned by satellites over the last 3 or so decades. But the images on Google Earth's timelapse feature are of very very low quality. But viewing the timelapse is evidence enough that this information is out there.

Probably price as a barrier. Or the background knowledge to know which providers are reliable, etc. You could imagine the pricing being inaccessible to certain markets (where currency is really weak, say Venezuela), whereas Google Maps is free for almost all uses.

There are a lot of tools built for Google Maps/Earth, and it is far more accessible. For a reporter/investigator with an unlimited budget, sure, but for most of the real world, if it isn't in Google maps it is essentially out of reach.

You expect reporters to go deeper than the first page on Google?

They're available but not always free.

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