Very interesting paper by Danyel Fisher on what users are looking at when using Virtual Earth - one interesting piece was the very bright spot on the shores of Lake Washington that points out Bill Gates house.
How We Watch the City: Popularity and Online Maps One way of conceptualizing physical spaces is to look at where people notice, remember, or note them. Computer-assisted methods give us new tools based on implicit, rather than explicit, data about how users have examined and travelled online through cities. “Hotmap” is a tool that visualizes how people have used maps.live.com, an interactive mapping service, looking at what parts of the maps they find most compelling.
One way of conceptualizing physical spaces is to look at where people notice, remember, or note them. Computer-assisted methods give us new tools based on implicit, rather than explicit, data about how users have examined and travelled online through cities. “Hotmap” is a tool that visualizes how people have used maps.live.com, an interactive mapping service, looking at what parts of the maps they find most compelling.
Source: How We Watch the City: Popularity and Online Maps