How Google Earth (Really) Works

One of the original creators of Google Earth explains how it works

Photo: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images

I originally posted a version of this story in 2007 and have added a few updates for 2020. For the technically inclined, you may want to read the patents — Asynchronous Multilevel Texture Pipeline, Server for geospatially organized flat file data — that protect these ideas. [Note: Michael Jones…