David Emery OnlineMaps, MTV and iTunes
25 April 2007
Today I’ve noticed a few interesting things I’d like to bring to your attention, so rather then string them out over a couple of days or save them for Friday Links I thought I’d just talk about them today.
There’s nothing quite like the here and now.
So, first up is the new MultiMap site (you might need to click “Visit our new site” on the top left if you still see the old site). I’d always been a MultiMap user up until Google Maps came to the UK; I – like everyone else I suppose – was completely sucked in by the Google Maps interface, even though their maps were of a lower quality.
Now MultiMap have hit back with a completely redesigned site which is really, really nice. First off, they’ve half-inched the basic UI from Google whole-sale, including the drag-able maps, zoom bar, mini-map, map/aerial/hybrid views etc. On top of that, they’ve brought their far superior (in the UK at least) maps, a better looking site aesthetic, much better location search (oddly enough – you would have thought that Google would be able to do search, but it seems to trip up on full address searches) and a whole host of location specific meta-data.
It’s this last one that has truly impressed me; as you drag around the map there’s a little panel at the bottom that has a five day forecast for that area, the nearest tube station/station/airport/motorway junction and the lat/lon. All of that updates in real time as you drag the map!
Google have just lost me as a user…
Next up is the new MTV site, and their corresponding blog post about it (MTV has a blog! Who new?). Now, I’ll be honest: the new site isn’t really anything special in the looks department (other then the hats). What it is is functional and useable, and a big step forward from their previous Flash based site.
What I think is most interesting is the huge backlash in the comments (343 at the time of writing) of the blog post announcing it. Sure, there are some positive comments, but overall (and ignoring the ones complaining about the slowness, as that’s obviously an unrelated technical issue) the vibe is incredibly negative.
My take is that firstly: any change is bad, at least to this demographic. They will, however, get over it in about 5 mins as soon as they figure out where everything is. Secondly, people really do like flashy effects. I guess this comes as no surprise, but I think still worth noting. Thirdly, all the guys preaching that design doesn’t matter (“look at MySpace!” they cry) are undermined by the reaction to this site; all in all, I think the real problem people have is that it just doesn’t look that good.
Finally, in the US the White Stripes are releasing their new single on iTunes at midnight. This is genius – no-one has heard the single yet, so the first – and only – place you can hear it is by buying it on iTunes.
Not on the radio. For free.
Not streaming on the web. For Free.
But buying it, yours to own, at the same time everyone else gets the first chance to hear it.
So, so, clever.
And it doesn’t hurt that the song is really, really good.