In a press release published Friday, internet technology leader Google announced that its revolutionary Street View technology will not be expanded to include coverage of the Seattle area, ever.
First introduced in May 2007, Google’s Street View originally offered web users a panoramic peek into five cities across the country. Given Google’s presence in Seattle, with offices in Fremont and Kirkland, many assumed that coverage of Seattle neighborhoods would soon follow. However, three months later when the next group of cities included in Street View was announced, Seattle was not among them.
Since the original release of Street View, four subsequent announcements of additional coverage have failed to include Seattle. Currently 30 metropolitan areas are included in Google’s Street View, more than half of which are actually smaller than Seattle. The list of insignificant cities Google has deemed more important than Seattle includes Albany New York, Manchester New Hampshire, and Juneau Alaska. Yes, Juneau.
Friday’s statement from the internet giant finally answered the question that has been on many tech-savvy Seattle residents’ minds: When is Seattle going to get Street View? The answer, according to Google, is never.
“There are just so many things we care about more than bringing Street View to Seattle,” the press release stated, “important upcoming technologies like our theme park maps, sausage recipe search, and web-based phone calls for prisoners.”
The release also indicated that just to make it absolutely clear that Google’s failure to include Seattle is intended to be a deliberate snub, the next additions to Street View will be ten Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Calgary, and Mississauga. “You probably don’t even know where Mississauga is,” the announcement said.
When asked whether there was any chance that Google would reconsider its position, a representative for the company replied that it was “extremely unlikely, save for some kind of highly localized disaster centered somewhere in Redmond.”
The following metropolitan areas are included in Street View (ordered by population):
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Houston, TX
- Phoenix, AZ
- Philadelphia, PA
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Dallas, TX
- Detroit, MI
- Indianapolis, IN
- San Francisco, CA
- Milwaukee, WI
- Boston, MA
- [Seattle will never take its place in this list here]
- Denver, CO
- Las Vegas, NV
- Portland, OR
- Tucson, AZ
- Kansas City, MO
- Miami, FL
- Minneapolis, MN
- Raleigh, NC
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Orlando, FL
- Boise, ID
- Salt Lake, UT
- Providence, RI
- Manchester, NH
- Albany, NY
- Juneau, AK
Don’t forget Madison, WI! Population: 223,389,
82nd largest in the USA. Word.
I still don’t understand why… what has Seattle ever done to Google?
If it’s all because of Microsoft (which isn’t even in Seattle) it wouldn’t make sense.. everyone in Seattle uses macs, and no one is really pro-microsoft. its all mutual.
And if those statements are true, then I find it even more unprofessional.
and yes, I live in seattle (born & raised)
i find it really unprofessional as well. if anything you would think they would do it just to spite and piss of MS. its not like anyone living in seattle even likes MS anyway.
I Saw a google street view car on the streets of seattle yesterday, it looks like the tides might be changeing
ummm… i saw a google street view car drive by me a week ago… on denny and taylor.
They went to Portland, then Boise, then Spokane.
It’s like maybe the street view drivers needed a local guide to say HEY BIG NORTHWEST REGIONAL MAJOR CITY — THIS WAY!
Google Streetview will be in Seattle. I just went outside for a smoke and saw the car with the mounted camera driving by. So I think they might have changed their mind?
Pranksters Surrender!- can’t believe people are still falling for this April fools joke. in JUNE
Could it possibly be an April Fool’s joke? Particularly given the sausage recipe search? Maybe…
saw it by the waterfront today
Hey, I rather like that they did Madison, WI. I can see my house on the internets now. :)
An April 1 story on the Naked Loon, and people reacted as if the world was all gone crazy. *sigh*
[[[sigh of relief]]]
i can’t believe i fell for this…IN JULY!!!
i don’t think this is a joke! practically every single city is on streetview now except for seattle! that’s the only major city not on there in the continental u.s.!
OK, now the street views go RIGHT up to the border of the Seattle major metropolitan area, then stop. Microsoft promises to apologize, Google! I asked!