I think Google Earth is kind of silly. While it's neat-o to go see where you live and where your high school is, I couldn't imagine it offering any useful purpose.

But after spending an hour driving all over town with my Dad looking for a shop that sells topographical maps for him to use on his upcoming camping trip, I thought, "MAPS? Made of paper? How 1983. I bet Google Earth could do that."

So when we got home I installed the free version on his laptop, and he went completely ape-shit over how cool it is, and how it lets him visualize how steep his hikes will be, and how he can see exactly where the roads are, and where his house is, and zoom and tilt and fly through mountains, and on and on.

So now I'm feeling a bit guilty, because (a) it does seem to have a useful purpose, and (b) it's free and cool, and (c) I guess as a Silicon Valley geek I take it for granted that the internet can now solve basically any problem for you, for free.

So, my apologies, Google Earth. Thanks for helping out my dad. You are cool after all.