Code the Road

Google Maps APIs is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Since Google Maps released its APIs to developers 10 years ago, developers have been able to integrate maps and location service to online and mobile apps. It was interesting to hear that a member of a band playing at the 2015 Google I/O Afterhour at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on May 28, 2015 shouted out to Google Maps, among all the Google services, when they recognized the host.

Departing tomorrow afternoon from Google I/O, Google's annual developer conference, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, a 1959 GM tour bus, powered by bio-diesel, is hitting the road for a 14-stop cross-country trip called Code the Road to meet application developers and map creators along the way. The bus will make its first scheduled stop at the iFit ICON Heath and Fitness 5K treadmill run in Logan, Utah on June 2, 2015. From there, the bus will stop in Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Virginia, and Georgia, with the final destination at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, showcasing many map and location applications developed using Google Maps APIs from iFit, Harley-Davidson, Lyft, Hilton Hotels, The Weather Channel and Walt Disney World.

Outgoing postcard US-3373238 to Germany was sent from the bus when it was parked at the north-east corner of 4th Street and Howard Street, across from Moscone West during Google I/O.

A Map Is Worth ......

A New and Accvrat Map of the world, 1626

Christel Binnie said it well: "If a picture is worth a thousand words, a map is worth a thousand pictures".

Google I/O 2013 opens today in San Francisco with changes to its Google Maps highlighting enhanced location service, personalized customization, expanded imagery including under-sea and inside buildings, and improved user interface. Currently more than one million active web sites and apps use Google Maps API. It has been a long way since the first map-like picture was drawn in the modern Turkey area around 6200 BCE.

The postcard RU-1160920, received on September 12, 2012, features "A New and Accvrat Map of the world", made by John Speed and published in 1626.