What do you think about the new MSN product for mapping? It is now housed at http://local.live.com/ It is prety darn amazing. Try putting in names of small businesses in your town and also name the town. It is darn fast.
That dashboard option is rather amazing (in a Big Brother kind of way) -- right now it only works in Seattle and San Francisco, but I was able to use it to pilot my "race-car" into a friend's driveway in Seattle. It provides a dashboard-view of the street elevations -- complete with trees, bushes and ground-level obstacles.
I am not sure this is a "good thing" but it is a useful tool.
Mark