Google Street View van from Bill Thibault

By now we've all oohed, aahed, and freaked the hell out about Google Street View. We've even seen the terrifying surveillance van and car that took the photos.

The only question that I have left for Street View (since the official google blog has thus far been silent on the matter) is: How many man hours did it take to photograph every single street in Manhattan 360 degrees? Yeah, I know they did it by car, but that is still some serious time investment. You'd think these people at the google were made of money or something.

Immersive Media's Street View-capturing car from their PR guy

Anyway, I have to admit that, as much as I don't want to be the luddite, I find the street view a little scary (though also incredibly cool). I'm really glad things are fuzzier in NYC. I mean, is the level of zoom in San Fran really necessary? However, as Asim pointed out, we're getting photographed at NYC crosswalks, on train platforms, and in stores on a daily basis anyway—at least now we get to benefit from the images as well.

And I'm also glad that ye ol' Google Street View makes it easier for me to pose the question I've been trying to ask the internet for awhile now: What is this hill called??? It is so very steep. It must have a name.