Big, successful companies annoy people, in the past it was  — IBM, Microsoft and Oracle — now Google is in the hot seat.    Some of the sources of annoyance can be the ubiquity of a company’s products like Windows for Microsoft, a natural human desire to root for the underdog, or possibly privacy concerns  coupled with fear of “big brother”.

No Google product seems to have such a loyal chorous of haters as Street View in Google Maps.  With this feature selected in Google Maps, you can not only see a location on a map but actual see a  full 360-degree view photography of the location.

The 360-degree  images are taken by Google camera-mounted cars that roam streets snapping photographs.    Google stirred  the pot of controversy in Northern California last summer when Google Street View cars were accused of photographing on private roads in Sonoma and Humboldt counties.  Since Humboldt one of the major cash crops of Humboldt County is pot, those drivers better be careful.

Now Street View is available in the United Kingdom where it recently met annoyance. in the form of an angry crowd.  It seems that a Street View car  was spotted in the  upscale village of Broughton about an hour out of London.  The village had recently been victim to a number of house robberies.  The residents of the village resented being photographed without their permission and felt the pictures might aid burglars, so in  a bit of volunteer civic action, neighbors blocked the road so that the Google car could not pass.  The driver eventually made a U-turn and left the area.  Actually Google is within its rights to take photographs with permission as long as the car remains on public roads

One of  the  practical uses for the Street View feature is to use it when looks for new houses or apartments –  check out areas without needing to visit in person.

The 360-degree car-mounted camera used by Google.

My street in Mountain View, CA via Street View

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