Taking it to the Streets

Yesterday Bostonist got an interesting link while looking up the location of our new dentist. Amazon’s A9 search service has launched a “block view” for Boston yellow pages searching. The results are cool, and remind us what the city looks like when there isn’t 4 feet of snow piled in front of everything. According to the A9 site they traveled the streets with trucks equipped with digital cameras and GPS systems, then linked the images to the GPS and put all of that into their mapping system. Sounds like teams of people in the back room making this all mesh. Centre Street in JP and Newbury Street are almost complete, there are quite a few spaces in other neighborhoods however. They haven’t taken the pictures throughout Boston, just businesses that were listed in the Yellow Pages. They do have YMCA’s and dollar stores, and oh do they have bars covered. So if you were too drunk to remember what that place was your friends took you to last time, but have a matchbook you stole from the bar you can look up the storefront and see what it looks like in the daytime. When you find it hopefully they still have your wallet. Boston is one of the lucky 10 cities they’ve done this for, who knows where they’ll go next. Check it out, tell them what you think, it can only get better. Do take a stroll down your favorite commercial street using the block view. The Herald pulled in the AP story on this innovation for Boston, we’re waiting for something creative out of the Globe.