Google Earth = Open Earth

Here's an interesting point from Google's Chris Dibona:

Widely Available, Constantly Renewing, High Resolution Images of the Earth Will End Conflict and Ecological Devastation As We Know It

because, as he explains:

With sufficient resolution, many things will be as clear to all: Troop movements, power plant placement, ill-conceived dumping, or just your neighbor building a pool. I am optimistic enough to think that the long term reaction to this kind of knowledge will be the recognition of the necessity, or the proper management and monitored phase out of the unwanted. I am not as optimistic about the short term, with those in power opting to suppress this kind of information access, or worse, acting on the new knowledge by launching into a boil the conflicts that have been simmering for uncountable years.

Openness is the antidote to power's attempt to lock down knowledge and with it the means to contest that power. Google Earth and its ilk are a new weapon in opening up not just the earth but the world too. (Via Ogle Earth.)