Never Lost Again, Bill Kilday
Never Lost Again, Bill Kilday
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Never Lost Again
The Google Mapping Revolution That Sparked New Industries and Augmented Our Reality

Author: Bill Kilday

Narrator: Rob Shapiro

Unabridged: 10 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 06/19/2018


Synopsis

As enlightening as The Facebook Effect, Elon Musk, and Chaos Monkeys—the compelling, behind-the-scenes story of the creation of one of the most essential applications ever devised, and the rag-tag team that built it and changed how we navigate the world.Never Lost Again chronicles the evolution of mapping technology—the ""overnight success twenty years in the making."" Bill Kilday takes us behind the scenes of the tech’s development, and introduces to the team that gave us not only Google Maps but Google Earth, and most recently, Pokémon GO.He takes us back to the beginning to Keyhole—a cash-strapped startup mapping company started by a small-town Texas boy named John Hanke, that nearly folded when the tech bubble burst. While a contract with the CIA kept them afloat, the company’s big break came with the first invasion of Iraq; CNN used their technology to cover the war and made it famous. Then Google came on the scene, buying the company and relaunching the software as Google Maps and Google Earth. Eventually, Hanke’s original company was spun back out of Google, and is now responsible for Pokémon GO and the upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.Kilday, the marketing director for Keyhole and Google Maps, was there from the earliest days, and offers a personal look behind the scenes at the tech and the minds developing it. But this book isn’t only a look back at the past; it is also a glimpse of what’s to come. Kilday reveals how emerging map-based technologies including virtual reality and driverless cars are going to upend our lives once again.Never Lost Again shows us how our worldview changed dramatically as a result of vision, imagination, and implementation. It’s a crazy story. And it all started with a really good map.

About Bill Kilday

Bill Kilday’s twenty-five-year career in technology and game marketing has centered on maps and augmented reality. He served as marketing director for digital mapping start-up Keyhole, and marketing lead for Google’s Geo division during the launch of Google Maps and Google Earth. He is currently VP of marketing for Niantic Inc., a spinout company from Google responsible for GPS-based games Ingress, Pokémon GO, and the upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The youngest of eight children, Kilday was born in Houston, Texas, and now lives in Austin, Texas, with his family. He has a terrible sense of direction.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brent on March 22, 2019

An interesting look behind the creation of Google Maps and Google Earth, from someone who was present at the very beginning. For anybody who wonders how on earth Google managed to map our entire planet in such a short period of time.......more

Goodreads review by Bob on October 20, 2019

Never Lost Again: The Prequel I met Dan Gordon in August of 1992. Based on previous work I had done, Dan thought I’d be a great asset to his growing team so he brought me in for an interview. He spoke for 15 minutes and never asked me a question. Instead, he told me of his vision – he wanted to creat......more

Goodreads review by Malobi on February 05, 2021

Unputdownable. Being severely directionally challenged I have always been fascinated by google maps and it’s impact. This book gives a peek into what went into creating an app with a billion downloads - it’s humble beginnings, the challenges and finally the glory! :) it also touches upon corporate p......more

Goodreads review by Jeremy on August 31, 2018

This is a fascinating look inside the development of one of the most transformative technologies to ever come along. Bill Kilday and John Hanke were college friends from Texas. John went on to start Keyhole and brought Bill on as the marketing manager. This book is an inside look from Bill's perspec......more

Goodreads review by Eric on March 13, 2020

I'm really happy a friend recommended this book to me. I flew through it in less than 2 weeks. When you really think about it, fewer tools have changed our lives more in the last few decades than Google Maps/Google Earth. I loved getting to hear about their beginnings as a floundering startup that ne......more