Never lost again
by Bill Kilday · first published 2018
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Insider history of the Keyhole startup and how it became Google Earth and Google Maps, covering the product's development; not very technical, and a good pick for anyone curious about those origins.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Never Lost Again chronicles the evolution of mapping technology--the "overnight success twenty years in the making." Bill Kilday takes us behind the scenes of the tech's development, and introduces to the team that gave us not only Google Maps but Google Earth, and most recently, Pokémon GO. He takes us back to the beginning to Keyhole--a cash-strapped startup mapping company started by a small-town Texas boy named John Hanke, that nearly folded when the tech bubble burst. While a contract with the CIA kept them afloat, the company's big break came with the first invasion of Iraq; CNN used th
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A good book about the early days of Google maps and the Keyhole company that originally built it is "Never Lost Again" by Bill Kilday. The author was one of the founders[1] of Keyhole and stayed on when the company was bought by google. [1] This might technically be wrong, but he was working for them from almost day…
on “The predecessor to Google Earth was clumsy, yet powerful” ↗I just finished reading Bill Kilday's Never Lost Again. It was amazing that four engineers produced the ground-breaking Google Maps in 16 months. Algorithm/Math questions used to be really effective at finding engineerings like those four engineers. There…
on “Harder programming questions do a worse job of predicting outcomes” ↗For more stories like this, I highly recommend "Never Lost Again" by Bill Kilday: https://www.powells.com/book/never-lost-again-the-google-map... Kilday was a PM and marketing manager at Keyhole, the startup whose product was renamed Google Earth after being acquired.…
on “Google Maps: Bird Mode” ↗If you're interested in mapping technology and the history of Google Maps (Keyhole) in particular, check out Bill Kilday's book "Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality". Kilday was a founder at Keyhole, the startup acquired by Google to become Google Earth. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062673041
on “Google Earth Ported to Browsers with WebAssembly” ↗Last years book "Never Lost Again" is a good account of the Keyhole/Google Earth/Google Maps story. (https://www.amazon.com/-/dp/0062673041/)
on “How a Google side project evolved into a $4B company” ↗For anyone interested in mapping technology, check out the book "Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality". Written by one of the founders of Keyhole, the CIA-funded (In-Q-Tel) company that created the technology that became…
on “Volkswagen’s plan to create a new car operating system” ↗Great read! I recently read Bill Kilday’s book: Never lost again[1] which is a fantastic read if you want to learn more about the pre-google-maps and google earth days. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062673041
on “The Founding of Google Maps (2015)” ↗Good news! :) Bill Kilday, a founder at Keyhole, wrote a book about Keyhole, Where 2, and Google Earth and Maps: "Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality". It's not very technical, but it has a lot of interesting history about the products' development and internal Google…
on “Google Kills Cloud Print” ↗Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality
on “Ask HN: Programming Audio Book Recommendations” ↗I was about to say. The book about Keyhole, Never Lost Again, is a great read. I burned through it in less than 48 hours.
on “The Founding of Google Maps (2015)” ↗"Never Lost Again" is an excellent read for anyone curious about the origins of Keyhole-become-Google Earth.
on “The predecessor to Google Earth was clumsy, yet powerful” ↗For the history of Google Maps, Earth, and Street View, check out "Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality". Written by one of the founders of Keyhole (the company that built what became Google Earth), the book is mostly about…
on “Why I Quit Google’s WebAssembly Team, and How It Made Me Sick” ↗I can also recommend "Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality" (https://amzn.com/0062673041) about the evolution of Google Earth, Maps, and Street View. Written by one of the founders…
on “Google Maps has become an eyesore” ↗The book 'Never Lost Again' (2018) tells the keyhole/Google Maps story line. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35820393-never-lost-agai... Actually I left with the impression nobody involved had a good plan what Google Maps should…
on “Google Earth Reverse Engineering” ↗…Valley, and the New World Order The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures Mastery Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning Never Lost Again: The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗