In other words, you have no idea where in the sky those things you see in Sky and Telescope magazine are. So you know there are entire galaxies out there. Now you’ve probably looked at imagery from the Hubble Telescope. When Brian Cox, physicist at CERN, spoke at LIFT last year he told us to hold our hands out, put our thumb up and realize there are hundreds of thousands of stars in just that small patch of sky. You have the whole world in a window on your screen. How dragging a map around lets you see the world in a new way. Think of Google Maps or Microsoft’s Live Maps.
My video will be up on Monday.īut, I’ll try to give you an idea of what made me so impressed. You’ve gotta see this thing to really understand. Like I said, it isn’t the product that’s impressive. That’s the first time anyone has said I underhyped something when I was trying to be so over-the-top with hype. My friends who’ve seen it say that I actually underhyped it. How could that possibly be the most fabulous thing I’ve seen Microsoft do in years? And that’s not just me talking.
Or, more accurately, the WorldWide Telescope.
If I told you “a telescope” you’d make fun of me, right? Tell me I’m lame and that I don’t deserve to be a geek and that I should run away and join the circus, right? Lots of people are asking me questions about what made me cry at Microsoft a few weeks ago.