2026-10-12
100 Products That Changed the World · #19: Google Maps
On February 8, 2005, Google Maps launched. With dynamic map tiles and asynchronous data fetching, it ended the era of MapQuest's blank-page reloads; with Street View fleets and hundreds of billions of ground-truth data points, it turned software into heavy physical infrastructure. #19 of 100 products that changed the world, overall 92.15, scale 96, durability 95, UX 93, impact 93, originality 88, business 88.
