Re:Google maps / mouse scroll wheel annoyance (Score 1)

Dear Google, please stop using the scroll wheel to zoom in/out in Google Maps. It drives me nuts every time I use it.

Using the scroll wheel to zoom is a widely known standard with online maps, not just Google-based ones, but also with open source alternatives like OpenLayers (used on openstreetmap.org and for many other OSM based maps) or Khtmlib. The wheel is also used for zooming by other applications where zooming is a major component of user interaction, such as Blender.

And I actually think it makes sense: The most common actions with online maps are Move (-> Drag), Zoom (-> Wheel) and Activate (-> Click). All of them should be available on the mouse. And while the double-click also usually zooms in, there is no equivalent for zooming back out.

User interface elements such as zoom sliders can also be an alternative, but they are somewhat inferior: You need to move the cursor there first, and they always zoom to the center of the currently displayed section of the map. With the wheel, you can zoom towards an off-center point, too, and don't need to move the cursor back towards your focus of interest when you want to click on it.