RIP MTJ

 I heard earlier today about the passing of Michael T Jones via Ed Parson's Twitter feed.

RIP MTJ Thank you on behalf of all the earthlings pic.twitter.com/8fTIUfQbOy

— ED PARSONS (@edparsons) January 18, 2021

He was one of the people behind the development of Keyhole, which later became Google Earth.

For over 15 years, this tool has helped to revolutionise our geography teaching and also the way we, and students conceptualise the earth.

"We are going to make discovering the Earth a joy - like you're dating a planet and you want to know it, to hear all about its past and hopes. That's what we did: we made something immersive and engaging and personal. You can fly to your home--fly to your parents' home - and remember the time you snuck out in the backyard and did something you shouldn't do, or the place where you had a first kiss, or the place you got married."

This article from 2013 outlines some of his thinking, as downloads passed one billion.