The Greatest App of All Time Day 12: Google Earth vs. Pandora
Welcome back to Gizmodo’s March Madness bracket challenge to name the greatest app of all time! With a whopping 73 percent of the vote, Spotify triumphed over Evernote in yesterday’s head-to-head. Today we have another music app taking on the whole world.
If you’re just tuning in, you can read all about our selection criteria for this historic contest right here. Check out the full bracket of contestants embedded below. And as always, if you think we missed your personal favorite app of all time, yell at us in the comments. Now, let’s get into today’s contestants.
When the web-based version of Google Earth launched in 2001, it felt like everyone in the world had been handed the keys to a satellite network straight out of Enemy of the State. The ability to start in space, pick a spot on the globe, and zoom in to street level was astonishing. Users like myself immediately went to find their own house and experienced the queasy feeling of being watched.
The mobile app of Google Earth made all of this even more satisfying with a touchscreen interface and the app has only gotten better over the years. The addition of Street View, 3D imagery, the ability to zoom underwater, and tons of Easter eggs have made Google Earth an extremely robust app and it’s still available to all for free. It’s certainly one of the best examples of a big tech company creating a public good just because they can.
Pandora faces the unenviable job of challenging Google Earth. Yes, Pandora still exists. You might even be one of the users who’ve remained loyal to the 24-year-old music app. Before Spotify gave us music on demand, Pandora was reinventing radio for the dot-com era. The concept was familiar, listen to curated music with interspersed ads. No fuss, no muss. And people loved it.
At the peak of its popularity in 2013, Pandora had around 200 million users and was responsible for 70 percent of internet radio streams. But the good times came to an end as millions flocked to streaming apps that gave them control over what they listened to. Sirius XM, another company that still exists, bought Pandora in 2019 for $3.5 billion and to its credit, the app is mostly the same as it ever was. It also outlasted Spotify’s internet radio app Stations. There are still people who want someone else to curate their listening experience, and for those people, Pandora does the trick.
So, reader, what’ll it be? Should the app that put the planet in your pocket go to the next round? Or should Pandora have one more chance to stick it to Spotify?
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 1
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 2
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 3
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 4
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 5
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 6
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 7
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 8
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 9
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 10
The Greatest App of All Time: March Madness Bracket Day 11
