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For the more technically inclined, John Udell has a nice introduction to the technology used to create ...

... Google Maps - he suggests that Google have pushed the standard, W3C or no W3C out beyond currently accepted boundaries and predicts great things to follow:

"The W3C can bless this approach or not, but with Google Suggest and now Google Maps, Google has thrown down the gauntlet. The modern browser is an XML-aware client. Savvy Web developers have known about these features for a while, but now Google has legitimized them and pushed them squarely into the mainstream. My guess is that we'll see an explosion of pent-up creativity as more Web developers discover, and begin to exploit, the full power available to them.

But wait, there's more. If you append the term "output=xml" to any Google Maps URL, the server will send back an XML packet. APIs? We don't need no stinking APIs. In 20 minutes I was able to build a proof-of-concept app -- made from snippets of HTML, JavaScript, and XSLT -- that accepts city names or ZIP codes and displays information about local businesses. (Unfortunately, the XML feature has since been disabled.)"

Link: Google Maps pushes the envelope

Nick Wilson is the publisher and founder of Threadwatch.org.

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