The other day I was driving into town, along our narrow street. Where cars are parked by the side of the road there is only room for one car to pass at a time. The locals all know this: we drive slowly and look a fair way ahead, one of the vehicles stopping well in advance to let the oncoming traffic through. (Strangers identify themselves immediately by failing to observe these unwritten rules.)
When I saw a white ute coming towards me, I had plenty of room to allow that vehicle past so pulled over and waited. As it approached I saw that it had a long pole protruding upwards from its roof, almost a couple of metres high. Closer still and I could see there was a camera mounted on top of the pole. I wondered idly whether this was the Google Maps camera. Although our street has already been filmed the weather was really grey at the time and the pictures did not do the street justice at all. But then I dismissed that notion as fanciful – why would Google care about our weather?
But it was indeed Google Maps, the logo was plastered all over its doors. So who knows? After the next update I may see myself in the ‘street view’ mode of Google Maps, sitting behind the wheel waiting patiently as a good motorist should. Just as well I was behaving myself!