Do You Actually Use Google Earth?

Sure we’ve all downloaded a free copy of Google Earth, the big G’s eye-popping desktop map application, and flown around the planet with a heightened sense of awe at how cool the whole thing is. But have you done anything else with Google Earth since then? Traveler Anick Jesdanun used Google Earth to create a robust photo tour of a trip through Antarctica and South America, and found the software powerful but complicated and difficult to intuit—especially for friends with whom he shared the resulting KML file.

Jesdanun writes:

I am fairly comfortable with the basics of Google Earth now, and I do enjoy creating the presentations. But it’s like the proverbial tree falling in a forest with no one around to hear it: Sharing my Google Earth creation was far more cumbersome than sending a link to an online photo album with an easy-to-find “slideshow” button.

Tell us whether you see Google Earth as a novelty, or a must-have tool.

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Like SketchUp, I love that Google Earth exists, but I don’t use it on a regular basis. (Though perhaps I should…) Tell us what you think in the comments.