Right now, I’m steaming as I wait in frustration for Google Maps to work properly. A simple query for Staples locations in New York City is taking forever. I get the infamous “loading…” in yellow up on the top of the screen. Everything else about the Maps site works: the redrawing of the street views and switching between the sat and classing map views takes no time at all.

As I type this, it still says its loading. I actually had to go to Staples’ website which uses some bastard version of MapQuest (Yuck!) to display store locations.

Maybe Maps is still in beta.