Students can use Google Maps to learn about specific locations and see what they look like from an aerial view; compare their home streets and neighborhoods with those of distant penpals; and study satellite images superimposed on the maps.
With MyMaps, you and your students can create personalized, annotated, customized maps. Whether you're planning a field trip or documenting a famous traveler's journeys, you can embed photos, videos, and descriptive text to make the content come alive. You can also publish, share, and invite others to collaborate on your project.
So if you are trying to grow an entire industry as broadly as possible, open systems trump closed
But in our industry a 10 percent increase in industry value will yield a much bigger reward because it will stimulate economies of scale across the entire industry, increasing productivity and reducing costs for all competitors. As long as we contribute a steady stream of great products we will prosper along with the entire ecosystem. We may get a smaller piece, but it will come from a bigger pie.
Our top priorities should always be users and the industry at large and not just the good of Google, and you should work with standards committees to make our changes part of the accepted specification.
Open will win. It will win on the Internet and will then cascade across many walks of life: The future of government is transparency. The future of commerce is information symmetry. The future of culture is freedom. The future of science and medicine is collaboration. The future of entertainment is participation. Each of these futures depends on an open Internet.