Lots of people are asking me questions about what made me cry at Microsoft a few weeks ago.
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?
Well, that’s what I saw.
Or, more accurately, the WorldWide Telescope.
UPDATE: the official site is now up.
Like I said, sounds lame. How could that possibly be the most fabulous thing I’ve seen Microsoft do in years? And that’s not just me talking. My friends who’ve seen it say that I actually underhyped it. That’s the first time anyone has said I underhyped something when I was trying to be so over-the-top with hype.
Like I said, it isn’t the product that’s impressive. You’ve gotta see this thing to really understand. My video will be up on Monday.
But, I’ll try to give you an idea of what made me so impressed.
Think of Google Maps or Microsoft’s Live Maps. How dragging a map around lets you see the world in a new way. Zoom in. Zoom out. You have the whole world in a window on your screen.
Now, think of the sky.
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.
Now you’ve probably looked at imagery from the Hubble Telescope. So you know there are entire galaxies out there. But what are you missing?
Context.
In other words, you have no idea where in the sky those things you see in Sky and Telescope magazine are. You’re missing context.
So, back to the World Wide Telescope. You drag around the sky. There’s Mars. There’s the big dipper. There’s Betelguese. Etc. It’s just like the star party you probably attended in college.
But it has one difference between any telescope you’ve ever looked at.
You can zoom. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom.
We picked a point of light inside the big dipper. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. Holy shit, it’s two galaxies colliding. It looked like a star. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom.
Now the magic happened.
Curtis Wong said: “let’s switch to a different telescope and see what these two galaxies colliding are spitting out.”
He clicked a button and we saw a completely different view of the same colliding galaxies. This time we weren’t looking at visible light, but at something else. I think it might have been infrared, or maybe a look at other kinds of radiation being kicked out. He had about 10 of the world’s telescopes to look at. I forget all the names, but that detail is in the video coming on Monday.
Zoom out. Zoom out. Zoom out. Zoom out. Pan over to Mars. What a glorious view. You’ve never seen Mars like that through your $2,000 Celestron Telescope.
Oh, you have one of those nice Celestron telescopes with the motorized base? Click a button and your telescope points to what you’re looking at in this piece of software.
And there’s a ton more, the demo just goes on and on and on.
Some other things.
1. It’s dedicated to Jim Gray, the Microsoft Researcher who sailed out of San Francisco Bay about a year ago never to be heard from again. He started this project with a paper back in 2002.
2. It runs only on Windows. It’s coded in C#/.NET, you’ll meet the developer in our video and you’ll hear more about that then.
3. It’s free, but only in a private alpha right now. I’m not sure when it’ll be released to the public. I bet that we’ll find that out at Microsoft’s Tech Fest next week (TechCrunch and other bloggers are going to that, so Im sure we’ll hear lots more details on the other cool stuff Microsoft Research is doing).
4. There are terabytes of data, all seamlessly integrated for the first time here.
5. There are narrations and tours. I believe you can even add your own, so you can leave a little tour for your kids to see the sky in a new way.
6. Mike Arrington and Dan Farber figured it out first.
So, why cry over a telescope?
Because I just saw the world I live in, er, excuse me, the universe I live in in a new way that I never had imagined before.
I cried because I imagined all the kids, like my sons, who will be inspired by what they see. It took me back to the days when John Kennedy wanted us to go to the moon. Hint: there’s a lot more out there to explore.
I cried because I realized just how much work, money, and all that went into making these images. I never had access to them before. Certainly not in this way so I could compare them by clicking a button. As a taxpayer who’s helped pay for some of these telescopes it’s the first time I’ve seen the results of my and your, investments in our scientific research.
It’s human to look out at the sky and wonder what’s going on out there. This takes us a LOT further into our understanding of just what is.
And,, yes, that’s worth crying some inspirational tears. Thank you to Microsoft Research for inspiring me in a way that Microsoft hasn’t inspired me in years.
And, also, sorry to the teams that I caused some PR troubles for. I hope you’ll forgive me for getting a little excited. I couldn’t contain myself. It isn’t everyday that you get to see such an inspiring piece of software.
Both Microsoft World Wide Telescope and Google Sky are possible by a running international effort, the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (www.ivoa.net). What Microsoft and Google have done is build massive multi-resolution caches of that data, so that wide sky queries are handled by the wide-angle cache, and the narrower queries are handled by the services themselves.
The good thing is that these visualization tools are very good in themselves for diffusion and vulgarisation, while scientific tools such as the Aladin Sky Atlas (http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/) also become available to anyone… with data accesible by everyone.
Both Microsoft World Wide Telescope and Google Sky are possible by a running international effort, the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (www.ivoa.net). What Microsoft and Google have done is build massive multi-resolution caches of that data, so that wide sky queries are handled by the wide-angle cache, and the narrower queries are handled by the services themselves.
The good thing is that these visualization tools are very good in themselves for diffusion and vulgarisation, while scientific tools such as the Aladin Sky Atlas (http://aladin.u-strasbg.fr/) also become available to anyone… with data accesible by everyone.
What makes me cry are all the wintards that think Microsoft is capable of anything but monopolistic business, stealing, ripping-off other’s work, etc…
Windoze only? You’re kidding, right? Where is the pathetic version for ‘other platforms’ (as if more than one survived them?) As if anyone in their right mind ever used I.E. in the first place, let alone now.
There is absolutely no reason for this to be windows only. It is yet another instance of Microsoft taking (from the likes of NASA this time) and using it to push their monopoly.
What makes me cry are all the wintards that think Microsoft is capable of anything but monopolistic business, stealing, ripping-off other’s work, etc…
Windoze only? You’re kidding, right? Where is the pathetic version for ‘other platforms’ (as if more than one survived them?) As if anyone in their right mind ever used I.E. in the first place, let alone now.
There is absolutely no reason for this to be windows only. It is yet another instance of Microsoft taking (from the likes of NASA this time) and using it to push their monopoly.
[...] y a quelques semaines Robert Scoble ( geek US ) avait annoncé sur son blog avoir vu une innovation de Microsoft qui l’avait fait pleurer. Selon lui cette innovation [...]
[...] See here: http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/27/what-made-me-cry-microsofts-world-wide-telescope/ [...]
[...] Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Photosynth, MySong и т. д. Не так давно Robert Scoble пускал слезу, от того, что ему показали в [...]
[...] with certain mid tier telescopes to synch your view!) Yes, it even brought scoble to tears, which he explains here. Click the image below to see WWT at [...]
[...] post del Sr. Scoble con la noticia aquí (el Sr. Scoble subirá un vídeo en el sitio de su nueva companía, FastCompany, el lunes 3 de Marzo [...]
[...] Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Photosynth, MySong и т. д. Не так давно Robert Scoble пускал слезу, от того, что ему показали в [...]
[...] What Made Me Cry: Microsoft’s WWT [From Scoble’s Blog] [...]
[...] on a project they called Worldwide Telescope which sounds pretty much amazing from what I’ve read about it (less the fact it’s probably Windows only). True, Sky does utilize actual photography of the [...]
[...] next toy to come out is going to be Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope. When Robert Scoble blogged about how it made him cry and when I watched the video interview he did, I was really wanting to [...]
[...] What made me cry: Microsoft’s World Wide Telescope « Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger [...]
[...] Before Cali headed off to the vet this morning to find out what is wrong with our Chihuahua’s back leg, we shot Brief 320 about something new from Microsoft Research called the WorldWide Telescope. When it’s released this Spring it will give us the ability to virtual explore the Universe just like Google Earth lets us explore our planet. Imagery is displayed in the same context as you would experience it if you could fly from place to place in a space ship. Robert Scoble saw it in action a few weeks ago and he says it made him cry. [...]
[...] Worldwide Telescope. I think it is, from what I’ve seen at least, truly wonderful. It made Scoble cry, apparently. Frankly I don’t blame him, I can’t wait to show my niece [...]
[...] Wide Telescope is validated to find this morning Robert Scoble’s reaction to the WWT– He cried. Good on you, Mr. Scoble, I understand. Here’s how he explains [...]
[...] has been working on with the Harvard Center for Astrophysics researcher and astronomer Roy Gould. (And its not only me saying so ) I have used and showed the examples in a couple of presentations lately - but suddenly [...]
[...] What made me cry: Microsoft’s World Wide Telescope [...]
[...] terabytes de imágenes en una experiencia novedosa de exploración del espacio. En palabras de Robert Scoble, puedes escoger un punto del espacio y hacer zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, … zoom y luego, cuando [...]
[...] And if you can’t remember what the hell WorldWide Telescope is, just remember that it was the thing that made Scoble cry. And we love things that make Scoble [...]
[...] Sondé l’insondable, voilà ce que nous propose Microsoft avec son téléscope. Scobles avait raison lorsqu’il parlait d’émotion. Perso, j’adore et je pense que je vais [...]
[...] probably have heard about Microsoft Research’s WorldWide Telescope referred to as “the thing that made Robert Scoble cry“. Today, the world finally gets to check out what all the buzz is [...]
[...] WorldWide Telescope’unu uzun süredir takip ediyorum. Robert Scoble’ın gözlerini yaşartan bu Microsoft Research harikası insanları hayran bırakan Google Earth’e 10 basacak olması [...]
[...] altamente que le den un vistazo al programa. Y no se pierdan el Tour por Marte que es, como Scobleizer mismo dijo, para llorar, pero de [...]
[...] are some pretty good comments flying around about the application, most citing the emotional impact it had on Scoble. It’s mainly aimed at scientists and educators but is also a way to make [...]
[...] avez sans doute très probablement entendu parler de Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope, la chose qui a tant ému Robert Scoble ? … Et bien aujourd’hui, je vous annonce que tout le buzz fait à ce sujet et bel [...]
[...] dettaglio ce lo forniscono lo stesso Scoble e le FAQ presenti sul sito [...]
What a joke. Typical Microsoft Hype. Once everyone has it downloaded I’m sure they will start charging for it as usual. Very poor resolution. We are only 250,000 miles from the moon and in planet view that is the best they can do ? Google would let us look at all the debris we left in the Sea of Tranquility. The resolution of Earth isn’t 1/100th as good as Google Earth. I am not impressed at all…..Thanks for nothing Bill !!
What a joke. Typical Microsoft Hype. Once everyone has it downloaded I’m sure they will start charging for it as usual. Very poor resolution. We are only 250,000 miles from the moon and in planet view that is the best they can do ? Google would let us look at all the debris we left in the Sea of Tranquility. The resolution of Earth isn’t 1/100th as good as Google Earth. I am not impressed at all…..Thanks for nothing Bill !!
[...] 14, 2008 · No Comments I have been waiting for this moment since the day i read this article from scoble’s blog. I was wondering why he cried after seeing a software. Software can make you cry? I couldn’t [...]
[...] is simply a desktop version of Google Sky. It’s just…a lot more robust, detailed, and inspiring to [...]
Try Slooh.com…….much better. It’s not free like this one is, but it’s also LVE images, not archived from other scopes. And for the price ($100/year unlimited usage), it’s an unbeatable telescope investment. Trust me, I know. I’ve been an astronomer for almost 25 years & thr latest scope that I bought cost 10X as much as Slooh & isn’t NEAR what Slooh offers. The same set-up would have run me about 15,000-20,000 $$$.
Best part too is that you can control the scopes PERSONALLY & tell them what you want to look at, then snap pics. Second best part is that you getcontrol of MULTIPLE scopes withthe yearly unlimited package. Right now we have 2 off the coast of Africa. An observatory has been rented already in Australia & the scope will be added soon. And there’s 1 more, soon to be 2, getting ready to come on-line in Chile.
Try Slooh.com…….much better. It’s not free like this one is, but it’s also LVE images, not archived from other scopes. And for the price ($100/year unlimited usage), it’s an unbeatable telescope investment. Trust me, I know. I’ve been an astronomer for almost 25 years & thr latest scope that I bought cost 10X as much as Slooh & isn’t NEAR what Slooh offers. The same set-up would have run me about 15,000-20,000 $$$.
Best part too is that you can control the scopes PERSONALLY & tell them what you want to look at, then snap pics. Second best part is that you getcontrol of MULTIPLE scopes withthe yearly unlimited package. Right now we have 2 off the coast of Africa. An observatory has been rented already in Australia & the scope will be added soon. And there’s 1 more, soon to be 2, getting ready to come on-line in Chile.
[...] if you recall, was the thing that made Scoble cry. I guess he must have been using DirectX 10 (again from Tom’s comments) “Tried [...]
[...] if you recall, was the thing that made Scoble cry. I guess he must have been using DirectX 10 (again from Tom’s comments) “Tried [...]
[...] was undeniably raised by the news that it made pioneering blogger and former Microsoft employee Robert Scoble cry. At first glance, WorldWide Telescope seems to be Microsoft’s answer to Google Sky – a [...]
Trust me, you don’t see what Nasa see’s. That resolution of the moon is a slam dunk for me. Although I’m sure the unaware are sufficiently lulled.
Trust me, you don’t see what Nasa see’s. That resolution of the moon is a slam dunk for me. Although I’m sure the unaware are sufficiently lulled.
[...] You can read more here: http://scobleizer.com/2008/02/27/what-made-me-cry-microsofts-world-wide-telescope/ [...]
Muy Interesante que tengo que hacer para obtener el programa y poder utilisar este telescopio
Muy Interesante que tengo que hacer para obtener el programa y poder utilisar este telescopio
[...] Telescope. How about making a telescope that peers into the past? Better: A time machine. Then Robert Scoble would have something to really cry about. Send a Terminator chick into the past and have her become girlfriend to either, or both, Google [...]
I cry too because ms make things that look “beautiful” and then do sweet fuckall. Yay. For once, a complete product would be nice. Feel free to start with XP and move on to everything else. Notepad is ok.
I cry too because ms make things that look “beautiful” and then do sweet fuckall. Yay. For once, a complete product would be nice. Feel free to start with XP and move on to everything else. Notepad is ok.
WWT is absolutely fantastic. I think what people are missing is it puts the data into the hands of everyone – even the scientific FITS images can be pulled down without having to know apis/integrations or which website to go to at what time of day and whom to request them from.
As an amateur astronomer having a tool like this for free has finally put the universe into the hands of many more people. I hope the scope manufacturers quickly embrace it as a tool to not only allow scope controls but integrate their learning, training and user experiences into it so people can share them.
Google sky doesn’t compare, doesn’t have the astronomy, astrometry, photometry or science aspect to allow one to do research and publish research and access everyone elses research at the same time.
People are terrible naive about the functionality of this app. TERRIBLY.
WWT is absolutely fantastic. I think what people are missing is it puts the data into the hands of everyone – even the scientific FITS images can be pulled down without having to know apis/integrations or which website to go to at what time of day and whom to request them from.
As an amateur astronomer having a tool like this for free has finally put the universe into the hands of many more people. I hope the scope manufacturers quickly embrace it as a tool to not only allow scope controls but integrate their learning, training and user experiences into it so people can share them.
Google sky doesn’t compare, doesn’t have the astronomy, astrometry, photometry or science aspect to allow one to do research and publish research and access everyone elses research at the same time.
People are terrible naive about the functionality of this app. TERRIBLY.
Further to my book “All creatures do go to Heaven, especially Pets – proved from the original languages of the Holy Bible.” on:
http://www.all-creatures.org/ach I wish to send you the first chapter of my book “Beyond the beyond.” which is hardly believable.
Further to my book “All creatures do go to Heaven, especially Pets – proved from the original languages of the Holy Bible.” on:
http://www.all-creatures.org/ach I wish to send you the first chapter of my book “Beyond the beyond.” which is hardly believable.
[...] Research’s WorldWide Telescope, otherwise known as “the thing that made Robert Scoble cry” has been publicly launched [...]