Some bad first impressions of the Google Map API
These days, I found myself have chunks of free time to spare, so I experimented on Google Maps. While Google seems to be king of Internet now, I have some bad first impressions about the Google Map API.
1. Documentation is thin, too thin to be helpful beyond the first dummy map. It is nothing compared to the all-comprehensive and bulky MSDN library with its trees, branches, leaves of classes, methods, properties. Google people probably think everyone out there is a tech wizard who can get the gist with a touch of magic wand. I, for one, am not.
2. Remember the joke about Microsoft? A guy got lost in his airplane. He circled around and spotted a building, he asked "Where am I?" and was answered "You are on an airplane". The guy then realized that he was on the sky above Microsoft headquarter. Ha, technically correct, but not helpful. I have the same impression regarding the Google Map API. The bony documentation offers not much beyond tech. jargon.
3. With the loud noise of Google-Map-Mash-up-this-and-that, you think there would be a swarm of smart-asses on the web giving tutorials, explaining things, showing examples as to how to map this and that. But, no, no. My searched turned out more questions than answers. There is only one tutorial on the basics of the map api, then there are only scattered exchanges of questions and answers regarding the how-tos
I am very disappointed.
But I did make some maps I wanted, I will come back to talk about the maps tomorrow.