Very cool technology
Hat tip to
Robert Scoble for this heads-up on something that Microsoft will be releasing soon:
What made me cry: Microsoft�s World Wide Telescope
Lots of people are asking me questions about what made me cry at Microsoft a few weeks ago.
If I told you �a telescope� you�d make fun of me, right? Tell me I�m lame and that I don�t deserve to be a geek and that I should run away and join the circus, right?
Well, that�s what I saw.
Or, more accurately, the WorldWide Telescope.
UPDATE: the official site is now up.
Like I said, sounds lame. How could that possibly be the most fabulous thing I�ve seen Microsoft do in years? And that�s not just me talking. My friends who�ve seen it say that I actually underhyped it. That�s the first time anyone has said I underhyped something when I was trying to be so over-the-top with hype.
Like I said, it isn�t the product that�s impressive. You�ve gotta see this thing to really understand. My video will be up on Monday.
But, I�ll try to give you an idea of what made me so impressed.
Think of Google Maps or Microsoft�s Live Maps. How dragging a map around lets you see the world in a new way. Zoom in. Zoom out. You have the whole world in a window on your screen.
Now, think of the sky.
The site doesn't have the actual app up as yet but I'm looking forward to it very much.
Think of what MSFT did with the Terraserver ten years ago.
Fast forward to today and all the work MSFT is putting into visual processing and you begin to get an idea of why a lot of people are really hyped about this project.
As a heads up, if you are looking for more of a traditional astronomy 'planetarium' application, there are two very good ones out there.
Check out
Celestia and
Stellarium
Posted by DaveH at February 29, 2008 9:59 PM