An Open Letter to Google

[active_apathy]

Dear Google,

it has come to my attention that, in recognition of the anniversary of the moon landing, http://moon.google.com/ recently went live offering a map of the lunar landing sites. I applaud the spirit of this effort, but I wish to raise the following concerns:

1. Range of Map

Your lunar map seems to only cover the area in which the landings occured. This means that your lunar map completely ignores the dark side of the moon, depriving modern children of a valuable education in classic music.

2. Lunar Missions

The list of landing sites ignores Apollos 1-10, and Apollo 13. Is this some kind of joke? Are we honestly supposed to believe that such a heavily funded space agency doesn't know where to start counting, and skips numbers based on superstitions? For millions of internet users, Google is a brand name synonymous with quality and accuracy, and I would rather not see this placed in jeopardy over a simple joke.

3. The Interface

Everyone knows that gravity on the moon is roughly one-sixth of that on Earth. Why, then, are the ticks for the zoom slider the same distance apart as for satellite photos of Earth? I submit that the ticks for Google Moon should be six times as far apart, in recognition of lunar gravity.

Lastly,
4. The extreme close-up

I am extremely disappointed by the poor joke in the extreme close-up. How can you mislead a public seeking detail on what you laughably call our 'celestial neighbour'. I demand that whoever is responsible be sacked immediately. Everyone knows the moon's made of green cheese.

I'm certain that these disappointments shouldn't reflect on the otherwise exceptional standards of service and quality that internet users expect from Google. I can honestly say that, when it comes to Google not making such slips in future, I'm Feeling Lucky.

Searchingly yours,
active_apathy

Comments

[ianthefira.livejournal.com]

My father MAILED me that link with instructions to zoom in all the way.

Needless to say, I groaned.

[samhain-punk.livejournal.com]

I saw that yesterday and I'm afraid I must admit that when I zoomed in 100 percent, my initial reaction was, "Wah? Why's it all yellowy?" Then I realised and felt very silly indeed.

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

*snerk*

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

Also: purely out of habit, I was incredibly surprised to see your OWN layout when I clicked to reply. I noted your username and icon, read teh funny, and naturally assumed it was on Metaquotes XD

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

No, it hasn't been quotede on yay. If it were, the thought occurs to me that it wouldn't have one of my icons on it.

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

...Good point. I was still surprised, dammit!

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

And then, when you could've fixed that, you decide to tell me all about it in comments. :)

And yes, I know, 42 isn't the answer to your email.

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

Oh shush.

[maggiebloome.livejournal.com]

ROFLMAO.
Brilliant. How dare they show pictures of a blue cheese moon?! Everyone knows it's green!

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

They say yellow. But, yes. Green cheese. GREEEEEEEN!

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure this is just the beta; they just forgot to put the "beta" tag on.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure; Labs are usually much more thorough about their work than that. Maybe we should just fire catalogues at the moon, so we get lunar photos on Froogle.