They're at it again. For ages, those of us who detest the new style Google maps (in particular, the new Street View that doesn't allow you to look at both the camera view and a decent sized map at the same time) have used:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?output=classic
...but as of a few days ago, this doesn't work, it silently redirects you to the crappy new version. The new version does, in theory, have a facility to switch back to Classic, but (like most things from Plankland) it's a con. If you click it, you do *NOT* get the old Classic version, you just get a "Lite" (i.e. crippled) version of the new style garbage.
However...
From a "Tech for Luddites" article...
http://techforluddites.com/google-is-getting-rid-of-classic-maps-for-good/
(with the URL given there amended to .co.uk instead of .com), if you "accidentally" get the URL wrong and miss the last letter off:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?output=classi
...you get the genuine familiar Classic version.
Up yours, Larry.
How long this will last before they cotton on to it I wouldn't like to guess but, while I doubt if the "What's good for Google is good for America, and what's good for America is good for the rest of the world" ratbags will take the slightest bit of notice of what their users think, there's a petition you can sign:
https://www.change.org/p/larry-page-ceo-google-tell-google-bring-back-classic-google-maps
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?output=classic
...but as of a few days ago, this doesn't work, it silently redirects you to the crappy new version. The new version does, in theory, have a facility to switch back to Classic, but (like most things from Plankland) it's a con. If you click it, you do *NOT* get the old Classic version, you just get a "Lite" (i.e. crippled) version of the new style garbage.
However...
From a "Tech for Luddites" article...
http://techforluddites.com/google-is-getting-rid-of-classic-maps-for-good/
(with the URL given there amended to .co.uk instead of .com), if you "accidentally" get the URL wrong and miss the last letter off:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?output=classi
...you get the genuine familiar Classic version.
Up yours, Larry.
How long this will last before they cotton on to it I wouldn't like to guess but, while I doubt if the "What's good for Google is good for America, and what's good for America is good for the rest of the world" ratbags will take the slightest bit of notice of what their users think, there's a petition you can sign:
https://www.change.org/p/larry-page-ceo-google-tell-google-bring-back-classic-google-maps























