An Uncle Dave commentary:

Last week, Google released a 3D graphics program called SketchUp. As someone who has played around with computer graphics, this program is the real thing, not only because it’s free, but because it’s ridiculously easy to use. With the simple tutorials you get when you first run it, even your grandmother could recreate the house in the picture in just a few minutes. I wish more commercial 3D programs were this easy to use. And did I mention it’s free!

It’s Windows-only at present and it has limitations (a full featured version can be had for $500), but what you can do with the free version is amazing. One interesting feature is that after, say, recreating your house, you can plop it down in its place on Google Earth.

What I can’t figure out is why? What is Google up to releasing a program like this? Yes, it has the Google Earth tie-in, and Google also has Picasa for organizing your photos, but where is this leading? Computer graphics isn’t exactly in the Google search domain. Is this a shot over the bow that no program or area is off limits? When they come out with the long talked about Google Office, will it include a Photoshop-like program for 2D work? Will there eventually be a Quicken-like program for personal finances? A Quickbooks-like program for small businesses? And so on? Is the goal to eventually be a one-stop shop for at home users to get free, easy to use programs that whet the appitite of the commercial use people to buy pro-level products? In other words, one hell of a clever marketing scheme that just happens to provide something really useful instead of just a page of ads (or more appropriately in Google’s case, links to websites)?

Now, here’s a way-out idea I had about another of Google’s possible directions based on an assortment of things I’ve read over the last year.

A few months ago, Robert Cringely wrote about Google and it’s data centers in a trailer. Right now, there are limits on what TV stations, cable companies and the telcos can do regarding transmitting TV channels over their various pipes and/or airwaves. Same goes for phone calls (regular or VOIP), internet traffic and so on. A lot has to do with who owns what and who can share what at what price.

There’s a lot of dark fiber out there. Suppose Google buys it up and connects every community in the country with those data center trucks as hubs. Then, it sets up each city with wireless, gigabit internet. (Yes, they just announced they aren’t wiring Silicon Valley, but there may be specific issues for not participating.) Now, write contracts with each cable channel. What has Google got? End-to-end data, video, VOIP that it controls. It also has the ability to store content on its vast server farms so video on demand becomes almost trival. Hey, Paramount. Store one HD copy of M:I:III on our servers after it’s theatrical run, then any channel can pay a fee to play it. Or skip the channels. Either way, viewers can call it up (or any show) any time, but they need to use our special browser/player (works on everything from your TV to computer to phone) which keeps it protected from pirates.

Going farther, perhaps the TV channels morph into being just producers of shows that are provided to Google just like the movie studios would.

Anyway, notice what wasn’t mentioned. No telcos, no cable companies, no ISPs anywhere. Google owns it end to end. Cost to users? Have corporations who will be more than happy to get better, consistant, coast-to-coast (eventually world-wide?) service than they are now pay for what they use, plus ad revenue from cable channels. Home users get it all for free. Well, maybe they pay a nominal fee to see MI:I:III (or any movie) whenever they want.

What do you think about that? We’d espcially like to hear from CEOs of telcos, cable companies and ISPs. Bill Gates, too.



  1. James says:

    To be fair, SketchUp has been around for years, so it’s not as if this is something Google has developed themselves: they just bought the company that made it.

    But still, it is strange that Google bought this company…

  2. Yoda says:

    Google’s purchase of Sketchup makes perfect since. Sketchup can make topography maps and 3D layouts from 2D Google maps is an excellent feature. It is my understanding that Sketchup and Google developed a working relationship when Sketchup was developing the Google maps plugin.

    I don’t believe that there’s anything more to the acquisition other than the two organizations appreciating each others inventiveness. When talented people are brought together, things happen. I hope so.

  3. Mike Voice says:

    There’s a lot of dark fiber out there. Suppose Google buys it up and connects every community in the country with those data center trucks as hubs.

    A nit, but does that dark fiber run to “every community in the country”?

  4. Hans says:

    How about a Google Virtual Earth which would be a Second Life-like virtual world built on the Google Earth mesh, with 3D objects created by SketchUp, with people talking with Google Talk, with people trading with Google Purchases, with in-world ads delivered through AdSense, etc.

  5. simon says:

    this is also available for the mac.
    I have been using it for over 2 years and their is nothing
    like it out there for quick 3D

  6. GregAllen says:

    My one-and-only “insider source” at Google is part of a company bought up by them. (Actually, I don’t really know her but we’ve emailed.)

    I gather this might be a module of an eventual Office Suite they’ll be offering.

  7. GregAllen says:

    >>Suppose Google buys it up

    I didn’t think there was any “suppose” about it.

    Wasn’t it reported right on this blog that Google already HAD bought up huge amounts of dark fiber?

    Generally, I’m optimistic about the rise of Google. I’m not too happy with their complicit violation of humans right in China but, generally, it seems good that somebody is challenging Microsoft’s monopoly.

    Goodness knows this do-nothing Whitehouse and Congress will never enforce anti-trust laws.

  8. Miguel Lopes says:

    It’s a matter of time before Google is run by the usual corporate types… Then people won’t be so happy with a Google monopoly.

  9. Greg Albright says:

    Google wants to get into 3d object searches. That way an engineer can construst their search query in a tool like sketch, and use 3dsearch.google.com to find products that are similar to the device or part that the engineer drew.

    For example, you need a coffee cup, but you dont want any ordinary coffee cup, you want a coffee cup with a special shape. Draw your query in sketch and google it, find companies that sell your coffee cup.

    Or another possibility… Google your dream house before you have it constructed custom…

    Or google your machine CAD file to see manufacturers who make a similar machine, or find a base machine that could be modified into your machine.

    Also, from what I know of computer vision techniques, this could be the beginnings of a “what is this a picture of?” google database. A search engine that you feed photographs to, and the search engine identifies elements in the picture.

    For example, with this techniqe, Picasa could automatically generate captions of your pictures from your family vacation.

    Twenty years from now, when this technology is mature, you go to doctor and say, doc I have a sore throat. Doc swabs your throat, puts the sample in imaging device, the device hits google database, and you get a diagnosis and possible treatments regimes.

  10. Mike Novick says:

    So if Microsoft provide software for free, they should be sued, but if google does that’s great?

  11. marlinj says:

    What do you get if you mash Sketchup and Google Earth together? How about the largest MMOPRG ever and user supplied content? Think Second Life built on top of your IRL map.

  12. Awake says:

    It’s all part of the plot to turn us into ‘Virtual Beings” by sucking our brains into their server farms, and making us live in virtual houses located in virtual cities, working at virtual desktops, and having virtual sex.
    Oh wait.. that’s the plot for “The Matrix”… quick, remove this post before I get sued by the RIAA for theft of intellectual property!

    “Do no harm”… yeah right, do you realize that GOOGLE also spells OGLEOG! That’s just creepy!

  13. Jon Mariano says:

    Whatever the reason Google has in giving out a free version, end users like me will benefit immensely.

    Is there a long term effect that will disadvantage users in the future? I don’t think so.

  14. Cabot Nelson says:

    Get this: A week before the media hype and launch of SketchUp, Google had a booth at the annual conference of the American Planning Association in San Antonio announcing this.

    Google did enough research to have a vendor booth at the APA. They are certainly doing their homework. They are up to something.

  15. Bruce IV says:

    I don’t know if Greg thinks differently, but I’d rather my doctor learn his stuff in med school than off the net …

  16. Gregory says:

    Mike – when it is distributed with a OS that monopolies the desktop market – yes.

    Big difference in the way it is released

  17. joshua says:

    There’s a really good article today on the Weekly Standard online site about Google, and it’s *do no evil* business concept. They talk about Google and China, and Google and Africa.

    For you dyed in the wool lefties I know your computor’s probably will jam if you try to go to a neo-con sight like The Weekly Standard, but interesting stuff can be anywhere you know. 🙂

  18. Kalyan says:

    I am sorry if this has already been posted. I didn’t have time to read through all the posts. I think Google might actually get into Real Estate selling/ advertising. Imagine if they could get you or a real estate agent to draw out a simple 3-D sketch of your house and plop it on Google maps. I don’t know if you’ve seen Zillow.com but I recommend checking it out. Once you combine something like that where you can search the county appraisal data superimposed on Google maps with house models that you could serve up to potential buyers…imagine the possibilities.

  19. Ryan says:

    Check out http://www.housingmaps.com. It’s the Craig’s List real estate database presented by Google Maps. Imagine mixing this with a fly-through of the actual house, created by real estate agents using a software so easy to use they could have their 5 year old children do the design for them.

    Or you design your dream house, as someone pointed out earlier, and it finds similar builds and shows them to you in this format.

  20. Eric says:

    Two words: Real Estate. Big market, bigger advertising market.

    Google Earth is already being utilized by the more tech savvy agents out there, what with its ability to visualize GIS information. Sketchups is a nice addition to that, if you can do a quick and dirty 3D model of a house you’re trying to sell. Particularly in more rural markets, it’s an incredibly boon to any agent if they can show a prospect as much as they can in the office before deciding which properties to go drive out to.

    Although honestly I think that’s secondary; the thing that’s flown under the radar is the Google “3D Warehouse” – much like Google Base, it provides Google with yet another source of semi-structured data to tap into, all created, tagged, and organized by users. The application that immediately comes to mind is object recognition for photos. Imagine if you go to the Google Image Search, type in “Eiffel Tower”, and uses the 3D model of such to find photos which have the Eiffel Tower in it.

    And who knows? Some future version of the web will likely have 3D graphical capabilities, can’t say it hurts Google to have this in that event.


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