London Googled

Ok ok...

this isn't a tech blog, and this isn't a Google promotion blog. But if they keep putting out cool stuff like this then I abdicate all responsibility.

This one tests people's sensitivities about the 'Big Brother' nature of Google.

Go to... http://maps.google.co.uk

Put in a postcode (for those who know me... check out where I live by putting in my postcode, it is on my facebook page)... and you can see a 360 degree view of the street using 'street view'.

You can basically see what you would see if you were driving along and there were no people!

Why do I not think this is like 'Big Brother' (the book, not the TV series)?

Well, it 1984, all the control is with the government. More and more the internet shifts the power to the individual. Yes we have to redefine privacy, and yes we have to become more honest... but it is going to get more and more difficult to stop ideas from spreading.

In a world where you can video conference, create virtual presence on the web through facebook etc., share your ideas through blogs, publish books/music/poems/art if you want, auction what you want, wander the world, learn anything you want, go to any university (virtually), search the collective knowledge of the world in a second...

the idea of a government being capable of controlling people like in 1984 flys out the window. In fact the idea of anyone controlling it flys out the window.

Scary, a bit? Exciting... absolutely. I think we have absolutely no idea what the world is going to be like in 10 years. Cultural flow, exchange of ideas, destruction of dogma, real conversation, communication, discomfort, opportunity, growth.

Whatever you are doing today as a job? Will technology make your job obsolete in 10 years? 20 maybe? Maybe that is long enough to save and be able to retire. But what if medical advances mean you live to 150? Time to start learning... Time to get in touch with your creativity.

Gone are the days where you learn a skill, and you do it till you retire.

A Crazy uncertain world... bring it on!