Apple CEO Tim Cook Apologizes For Maps App, Recommends Alternatives 451
TheBoat writes "Tim Cook has apologized for the company's Maps app in iOS 6. 'We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.' Cook said the company is continuing to work on the app, but recommended several alternatives in the meantime: apps from Bing, MapQuest, and Waze, or the map websites of Google and Nokia."
This is unusual for Apple, but not unprecedented. Steve Jobs acknowledged reception issues with the iPhone 4 in 2010, but he wasn't quite so contrite about it.
Bye Apple (Score:5, Funny)
Steve Jobs would have never apologized. He woudl've given it just the right spin that everyone would feel contrite over making jokes at Apple's expense. The next release would be perfect, as Steve would have demanded, and the kerfuffle would be consigned to largely forgotten history.
Tim Cook goofed.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Steve Jobs would have never apologized. He woudl've given it just the right spin that everyone would feel contrite over making jokes at Apple's expense. The next release would be perfect, as Steve would have demanded, and the kerfuffle would be consigned to largely forgotten history.
Tim Cook goofed.
I agree that that map app is flawed, but first releases of anything usually is. I have no doubt that this will be fixed in short order as Apple has gobs of money to throw at the problem and knowledge of where the problems are.
There is no better beta test than a general release.
Disclaimer: I am an Android user and by no means an Apple fanboi. Frankly, I despise the company for abusing the court system for their anticompetitive practices. However, you have to give Apple credit here for admitting flaws. It's not something the company often does and they should get credit for it.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know about it being fixed in "short order". Think of how long it took and how many people it took to get Google Maps to the level it's at. Even if Apple spends enough to cut that time in half we're still looking at a decent wait.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Funny)
They're probably sitting on enough cash to move towns and rivers to match their maps.
Re: (Score:3)
As I keep saying, it's not that the maps are wrong. It's that the world is positioned wrong. People keep naming cities the wrong thing.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Because if you want Google's data you play by Google's rules, and Google has things they want that Apple didn't want to give them.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Because if you want Google's data you play by Google's rules, and Google has things they want that Apple didn't want to give them.
Google is not the only company that offers maps with turn by turn directions. I'm actually surprised that Apple simply didn't buy a company that already has things up and running like they did with Siri. They could have purchased TomTom, for example and had everything up and running immediately. All they would have needed to do is write the app. I can't see how that would have been that much more expensive that starting from scratch and eating all the negative press.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
They didn't start from scratch. There's plenty of press that they acquired at least 2 GIS companies since 2009, and it's fairly evident that they licensed data from TomTom as well.
Re: (Score:3)
They didn't start from scratch, but their replacement simply isn't of the kind of quality Apple customers have come to expect. Apple has always demanded a bit of a premium price for a premium product. Maps are a critical app on a smartphone. I can understand that continuing to lack turn by turn navigation wasn't a viable choice for Apple. It's something they really should have had before now. However substituting their own solution that simply wasn't ready yet was a foolish choice. They should have ei
Re: (Score:3)
But aren't they now using Tom Tom? Map techs say the problems are amalgamating all the data they've gathered from different sources, including Tom Tom.
Re: (Score:3)
They actually are using data from TomTom, but apparently it isn't as easy as "just writing the app".
http://gspa21.ls.apple.com/html/attribution.html [apple.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Bye Apple (Score:4, Informative)
I think it's a bit more complicated than that. From Apple's mapping attribution [apple.com] page:
© 2006-2012 TomTom [tomtom.com]
Business listings data © Acxiom [acxiom.com], 2012.
Map data © AND [and.com].
Property parcel data for USA. © CoreLogic Inc. [corelogic.com], 2012.
Satellite imagery data © DigitalGlobe [digitalglobe.com], 2012.
Map and postal data © DMTI [dmtispatial.com], 2012. This software contains Postal Code OM Data copied by Apple under a sub-license from DMTI Spatial Inc., a party directly licensed by Canada Post Corporation. The Canada Post Corporation file from which this data was copied is dated 2012.
Business listings data © Factual [factual.com] 2012.
Map data © Getchee [getchee.com], 2012.
© INCREMENT P CORP. [incrementp.co.jp], 2012, http://www.incrementp.co.jp/gc01info/e/legal01.html [incrementp.co.jp].
Map data © Intermap [intermap.com], 2012.
Map data © LeadDog [goleaddog.com], 2012.
Business listings data © Localeze [localeze.com], 2012.
Mapping data for Australia and New Zealand. © MapData Services Pty Ltd. [mapds.com.au], 2012, PSMA http://www.nowwhere.com.au/lic/NowWhereLic.htm [nowwhere.com.au].
Map data © MDA Information Systems, Inc. [mdafederal.com], 2012.
Neighborhood data © Urban Mapping [urbanmapping.com], 2012.
Map data © 2012 Waze [waze.com].
âoeReviews from Yelpâ Yelp [yelp.com], 2012.
(CanVec)
© Department of Natural Resources Canada. All rights reserved.
http://www.geogratis.gc.ca/geogratis/en/index.html [geogratis.gc.ca]
(CGIAR-CSI SRTM)
CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information, http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/ [cgiar.org]
Flickr Shapefiles Public Dataset, Version 1.0, http://www.flickr.com/ [flickr.com]
(GeoNames)
GeoNames and contributors, http://www.geonames.org [geonames.org].
(GlobCover)
© ESA 2010 and UCLouvain, http://www.esa.int/esaEO/index.html [esa.int]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, http://www.nasa.gov [nasa.gov]
Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2012. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2012. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/ [ordnancesurvey.co.uk]
(OSDM)
© Commonwealth of Australia, 2012. This data has been used with the permission of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth has not evaluated the data as altered and incorporated within this software, and therefore gives no warranty regarding its accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability for any particular purpose. http://spatial.gov.au [spatial.gov.au]
(OSM)
OpenStreetMap contributors, http://www.openstreetmap.org/ [openstreetmap.org]
(StatCan)
Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.gc.ca [statcan.gc.ca]
(TIGER/Line® fi
Re: (Score:3)
Given how shitty and out of date TomTom maps are (with false turns that get me lost all the time, just for the purposes of 'protecting copyright') making fun of them is quite acceptable to me.
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Because if you want Google's data you play by Google's rules, and Google has things they want that Apple didn't want to give them.
Google is not responsible for Apple's poor planning.
Re: (Score:3)
True. Google STILL does not map out my old place. Every time I try, it puts the pin in the completely wrong spot. This, despite numerous attempts at "offer corrections".
Hell, I think there's even Street View for it (there are certainly roads there on the map), but they're all unnamed and thus, unsearchable.
NavTeq among others have properly routed to that address since the 2010 update. The satellite images and street view are dated, which is fine, but not having the street named (it was a new street ... back
Re:Apple is not as far behind as you think. (Score:4, Informative)
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With no textures... (Score:3)
I just took this picture on my Android device: http://i.imgur.com/42oQd.png [imgur.com]
That's nice, but while I was not fully clear I was talking about this:
http://i.imgur.com/iqTlW.jpg [imgur.com]
iOS does the outlines also in normal map mode, but I like being able to see the buildings from overhead at various angles.
It is true I should not say Google has no 3D support though, just no 3D imagery in mobile maps (they have some kind of beta desktop version).
Re: (Score:3)
Android has those too, via Google Earth, and they are launching for maps soon.
The bottom line is that at best they existed long before Apple came along, and at worst they beat Google to it by a few months at the expense of releasing a half baked product.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree that that map app is flawed, but first releases of anything usually is.
The problem is, this is iOS version 6, not version 1. The customers don't care about inter-company politics. If they would, they wouldn't buy Apple products in the first place, being the kind of company it is.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Best ever? No. Flawless? Certainly not. As good as we've come to expect from iOS? Nope. But it's not cutting anyone's throat by any stretch of a sane imagination.
Re: (Score:3)
But calling it "cutting customers' throats" is, you have to admit, a bit of hyperbole.
Your phone telling you to drive down train tracks isn't far off though, you have to admit.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Interesting)
So you're saying they've adopted the Microsoft way: release software which is horribly bug infested, let the user's who've paid for the product tell you what's wrong, then go about fixing the problems you either knew about or were too lazy to fix in the first place because you saved a few bucks by not doing testing.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple's been doing this with (some of) their software titles for years. This is nothing new to them at all. The only thing that's new is that expectations are higher for Apple now, and they can't release a product without the eyes of the world scrutinizing every tiny thing they do.
Everyone's making a big deal about Apple Map software, but nobody seems to remember that Safari, iTunes, and a half-dozen other Apple applications are steaming piles of shit, and that to make a proper operating system, they had to buy one that was based on BSD. This isn't about Apple adopting a bad software dev strategy, it's about Apple's bad software dev strategy biting them in the ass for the first time.*
*Disclosure and notice to the flame-warriors: I say these terrible things about Apple not because I'm an Apple hater, but because I've been using Apple products almost exclusively for many years now, and have much experience with Apple's flaws as well as its finer qualities.
Re: (Score:3)
Adopted? What do you think happened with the OSX 10.0. What do you think the first version of iTunes or Keynote was like? Apple can't do magic, first versions of massive complex applications are buggy.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree that that map app is flawed, but first releases of anything usually is.
So you're saying they've adopted the Microsoft way: release software which is horribly bug infested, let the user's who've paid for the product tell you what's wrong, then go about fixing the problems you either knew about or were too lazy to fix in the first place because you saved a few bucks by not doing testing.
Pretty much, yeah! The difference is that Apple users are not paying for this app. It comes with the new iPhone. I don't think there were many in line waiting overnight to purchase the new iPhone5 simply because it had a map app. They were there to get the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer.
Kind of the same way that people don't pay for Windows since it comes free with a new computer?
Saying that people don't purchase the phone to get the map app is the same as saying that people don't purchase the phone for Siri, or the high res screen, or the fast CPU, or the LTE connection - they buy the phone for the "whole package", and for many people, maps is part of that package.
The whole reason I moved from my corporate issued Blackberry to my own personal smartphone was to get better mapping. The Blackberry was great for emails and for making phone calls and txts (my primary use of a smartphone), but the mapping app sucks, so even though the BB was completely free for me through work, I paid my own money for a better smartphone.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:4, Insightful)
The whole reason I moved from my corporate issued Blackberry to my own personal smartphone was to get better mapping.
First, since you say "smartphone" instead of "iPhone", shall we assume that you're an Android user, that this issue doesn't affect you and your comment about the mapping app sucks is based entirely on anecdotal data?
When the CEO of Apple apologizes for the poor quality of their mapping app and recommends that dissapointed users download a different app, it's no longer "anecdotal data". This isn't a case of one guy saying "omg, I can't map my street! Apple maps suck!"
The next question is, if you are indeed an iPhone user, then is your experience with the new maps app--as bad as it may be--better than or worse than the Blackberry experience you were trying to get away from? As a former Blackberry user myself, I'm going to guess it's still way way way better. iOS 6 maps are certainly a step backwards, so it's worth complaining about. But don't add to the argument that this application was the very reason you moved away from another platform that was and probably still is several orders of magnitude worse.
I was careful to not say whether I moved to Android or iPhone, you made the (correct) assumption that it was Android, even if I moved to an iPhone 2 years ago, that doesn't change my basic point that maps are important to many people so a bad map implementation is worse than, say, not enough Fart applications.
I chose Android for reasons other than mapping (at the time, IOS was using Google Maps), but if I were going to buy a Smartphone today, I'd rule out iPhone based on the mapping problems alone. The iPhone is a good phone and until the Android ICS release, I'd say that most consumers would be more satisfied with iPhone than Android, but now I see little overall usability difference.
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i paid $0 for iOS 6 on my iPhone 4S though. Unless you were on an iPhone 3G and nedded to upgrade since your phone would be left in the cold otherwise, you did not have to get an iPhone 5 to get the new OS.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree that that map app is flawed, but first releases of anything usually is.
That's acceptable if you're doing something really new and innovative that no one has done before – like the original iPhone itself, or the first release of Siri. On the other hand, if you're entering an existing marketplace, your first release had better be at least as good as the entrenched players, preferably better, or at least offer some substantial other benefit to offset that. (This is why I think Windows Phone 8 is going to be a massive flop.)
This goes double if you're replacing functionality in an existing product. You can't replace a fully-working utility with a buggy beta and expect users not to complain loudly.
There is no better beta test than a general release.
Using customers as beta testers is a sadly common practice in the IT industry, but one reason why Apple has been so popular with users is that they've avoided doing this – up until now.
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I agree that that map app is flawed, but first releases of anything usually is. I have no doubt that this will be fixed in short order as Apple has gobs of money to throw at the problem and knowledge of where the problems are.
There is no better beta test than a general release.
What happened to "It Just Works"?
The only reason why I use Apple is because they have well finished, polished software that are reliable and very pleasant to use. If I wanted beta apps I wouldn't pay that much on an iPhone or iPad.
Re: (Score:3)
What happened to "It Just Works"?
The only reason why I use Apple is because they have well finished, polished software that are reliable and very pleasant to use. If I wanted beta apps I wouldn't pay that much on an iPhone or iPad.
It's been a while since "It Just Works" was true.
Furthermore, Windows 7 (and Ubuntu, to a certain extent) has delivered an experience that could be described as "It Just Works", especially when it comes to drivers. Improved competitors tend to highlight one's flaws.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
The thing is, you're looking at a short term one time fix.. but this isn't a bug in the OS where you can through money and coders at it and then throw a party when they problem is fixed. This isn't a flawed antenna design where you can throw engineers at the problem an offer free bump
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
as someone who bought apple shares before 2007 - i can only hope that fucking up then throwing money at problems to fix them carelessly is not the long term post steve jobs plan.
Given the reports that they still had another year worth of contractually available Google Maps, if they wanted it, the early switch does seem like a questionable move; but the 'throwing money at the problem' part is simply an inevitability if they want to get into mapping.
As they've learned(and any GIS people could have told them ahead of time...) the state of computerized mapping is such that you can't just throw a small number of talented programmers at the problem and expect it to work. Apple can do UIs, and the math behind various projections and coordinate systems and other cartographic stuff is available; but the underlying data about the real world are absolutely filthy and often patchy, outdated, scattered between multiple entities, etc, etc. They can either drop the product, or commit themselves to a long string of purchases of existing datasets and talent, and quite possibly a bunch of sheer slogging. Team Google doesn't have all those wacky spy cars running around purely for their novelty value, or because they have some moral objection to developing software to grovel through 3rd-party datasets...
You can debate whether it is a problem worth throwing money at; but it is a problem that you either don't touch, approach cautiously and with a willingness to take it slowly(ie. openstreetmap), or go in with checkbook blazing.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"Team Google doesn't have all those wacky spy cars running around purely for their novelty value,"
And now they can even run them driverless 24/7.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Informative)
John Gruber at Daring Fireball makes the best case I've seen [daringfireball.net] for explaining the timing; that their contract would expire mid-way through the iOS6 cycle and Apple would be forced to re-negotiate "with their backs against the wall". Or in other words, the contract would not have lasted until iOS7 comes out, so it made more sense to push out a major change like this in iOS6 instead of cramming it into a point release like 6.1 or 6.2 (can you imagine the outcry if THAT happened? At least people expect x.0 releases to have some teething problems... point releases are expected to refine, polish, and bugfix)
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Informative)
They tried to renegotiate with Google. Apple wanted a few new things like turn-by-turn, and Google was asking for some stuff in exchange, like increased branding, that Apple wasn't willing to do. Unfortunately, I can't remember where the article I read this was. Anyhow, even if the timing for the contract renewal had worked out, they may not have been able to come to terms on the missing features. Things like turn-by-turn weren't needed (or rather weren't expected) in a smartphone mapping app in 2007, but by 2012 they were expected, and their absence in iOS was notable.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Interesting)
as someone who bought apple shares before 2007 - i can only hope that fucking up then throwing money at problems to fix them carelessly is not the long term post steve jobs plan.
Good, fast and cheap; pick two! Fast was a necessity and they obviously didn't spend enough money to make it good. Now they have to. They went for what their executives called "good enough" knowing that it certainly wouldn't hamper sales, and it hasn't. Apple has never had free navigation so even a crappy app is better than what they had before. They are receiving negative press over this but I don't see a whole lot of Apple users jumping ship. Like the Samsung commercial, Apple users are saying, "we'll get that fixed next time."
Re: (Score:3)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple has never had free navigation so even a crappy app is better than what they had before.
No, it isn't.
Look, you can throw in all the 3D spinny effects/voice activation/turn-by-turn/traffic you want. If I say I want to go from point A to point B and the app comes back and says, "Sorry, I can't find point B," it is not better than what I had before.
Like the Samsung commercial, Apple users are saying, "we'll get that fixed next time."
The fanbois will always say that. These are people that you will not get, no matter what. 5% of the world are Apple lovers. 5% of the world are Apple haters. The other 90% fall somewhere in-between.
Apple will survive and do quite well with their 5%. The problem is that to thrive and grow, Apple needs those other 90%. These aren't the people who say, "Look at the shiny Apple!" They expect things to "just work." When they don't, they'll look for something that does.
You know how long it took Google and Nokia? (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple iPhone users have no idea what they're talking about.
Fixing a buggy application can be done in a point release of software. The app is irrelevant, everybody, their dog and their dog's fleas have map reading software. What they don't have is good data. Why? It's expensive.
Fixing terabytes to petabytes of poor data is an entirely different matter from upgrading a map reading application. There are really only 2 companies with good data. Google and Nokia. Both have been buying, assembling, collecting POI data and updating and fixing base map data for years.
To fix this Apple are probably going to have to spend a fortune on large amounts of data, infrastructure to handle it, thousands of people to manage and check it. Both, expensive and slow. Then there's the weird melting 3D world that's going to have to change entirely. They'll have to decide if it's worth doing it properly or if they still think they can do it on the cheap.
Looking at what they have right now [tumblr.com], it absolutely will not be "fixed next time".
Re: (Score:3)
It is a fact. However, that doesn't mean we need to "blame" Google. Google has every right to demand whatever they wanted for the technology, just as Apple has every right to show them the door. A poor map solution was inevitable--the old Maps app was already bad.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Interesting)
Tim Cook goofed.
Because he's not a lying egomaniac? I hope you were being sarcastic, but you can never be too sure.
I appreciate his honesty and willingness to be forthcoming about a flaw in their product.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
I find it funny how the public will equally go nuts over a small problem vs a large one.
My Maps are not as good as the last time. Vs. Company has been embezling and misusing our tax money. Same amount of anger and fustration. Why do you think companies are staying corrupt. Because if they try to be the good guys whatever minor mistake they will get the same slack is if they make a major problem.
Can't be the good guy, so let just be the bad guy.
We should save our bickering for the big stuff, and let the little stuff slide a litte bit. Sure in this case report the problem. OK the CEO appologizes. No that isn't good enough we want Blood because we were 10 minutes lake to that party.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
To paraphrase the AC.
I don't think Steve would have allowed such as shitty product to completely be release.
This is probably the beginning of many such goofs as Apple ceases to be Apple and becomes just another giant technology company.
Steve was the nuclear fire that drove Apple. With the fire out, like a White Dwarf star, Apple will now simply fade away in the coming decades.
Sad.
The reality disortion filed (Score:3)
To paraphrase the AC.
I don't think Steve would have allowed such as shitty product to completely be release.
Well you nailed it. Like Paul Mason, jobs would release no wine before its time. Moreover, someone would get fired. Like it or not his process worked. It could be that this is just going to be the learning experience they need to get back their Wu.
But in a way we are lucky. In the case of these maps, the Jobs reality distortion filed probably would have convinced us that the maps were right and the earth was wrong. If it was strong he might have just distorted the reality to match.
Re:Bye Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
He would not have allowed a shitty product to go out.
The problem for you is that Apple Maps is not a "shitty product". It's actually a really good mapping app, that currently has SOME data issues.
But for many users it works most of the time, close enough to replace Google Maps which ALSO works most of the time.
Steve Jobs wouldn't apologize (Score:5, Funny)
He'd just say you were trying to navigate wrong.
Re:Steve Jobs wouldn't apologize (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Steve Jobs wouldn't apologize (Score:4, Funny)
"We have revised the location of your town. Pray that we do not revise it any further."
Really bad in Canada (Score:5, Informative)
In an effort to figure out how innacurate the data in my area is I did the following:
- Fired up Xcode
- Determined that Apple Maps uses the CLGeocoder Class by peeking at the iPhone's debug console in Xcode while doing live searches in Apple Maps
- Scraped an official list of towns and cities in the province of Ontario from the provincial governments website.
- Coded up something quick in Xcode to get the results of a couple thousand searches. Searches always included the province name to be more specific.
- Ran a quick analysis of the results - not perfect but enough to get a perspective on the matter.
This is what I found:
- 2028 cities and towns searched
- 688 are not even on the map! Error Code 8
- 551 are clearly incorrect (wrong country, street names that are similar to town names etc.)
- 389 were close but not good enough (for example turn-by-turn might send you off a bridge but you'll get rescued close to where you want to be)
- Only about 400 results were actually correct.
Actual results data here and methodology here for those interested: http://www.mtonic.com/applemaps/ [mtonic.com]
(It's not perfect but gives you an idea of how bad it really is in Ontario Canada anyways)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Now run a comparison to Google's maps so we can see side by side.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You are missing something. They used Tom Tom data and weren't bright enough to figure out it was crap.
Re: (Score:3)
In my experience, car nav systems ARE badly flawed at the level of the errors Apple is being criticised for. But TomTom gets compared to Garmin, not to Google. Google has had the benefit of years of massive usage and millions of people contributing corrections. Apple will catch up, but not without getting that user participation.
Google still makes mistakes too. The other day I was trying to find an address and Apple maps sent me eight blocks in the wrong direction, apparently because it didn't know about ad
Re:Really bad in Canada (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree the actual map data they have is really lacking.
However it's not hard to find good source data either. Almost 30% of my searches resulted int he location simply being "not found". These missing towns for example are on every map I have ever seen. It shouldn't be up to iPhone users to add towns onto a map - that is base location data that should be there from the start. Users can refine pin locations and add points of interests. But towns and cities should all be there as they have existed in real life since the 1800's or earlier.
You would think Apple would have audited the map data from their suppliers and realized that the maps themselves are sub-par.
Re:Really bad in Canada (Score:5, Interesting)
At least 688 out of the 2000 towns are searched for on not even on the map ... you get the same CLGeocoder Error Code 8 whether you manually search for it through Apple Maps (watch the iPhones consol because it logs those errors) or whether you do it using your own code in an App.
I agree they do not have good source data, however it's not hard to find good source data either. These missing towns for example are on every map I have ever seen.
Re: (Score:3)
Apple doesn't suck. All my gear is Apple and that's the reason why this is disappointing.
I did think of trying to cross reference population with the results because I am sure you are correct - it's the smaller towns in rural areas that have gotten the short end of the stick here. I also thought of using the Google Maps API to compare results but alas .. I've got better things to do really :-)
I think we can both agree they went backwards on this update. I'm from a small town so when it's no longer on the Ma
I miss Steve Jobs (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I miss Steve Jobs (Score:5, Funny)
He would have just told us all that we are using the maps wrong, and we'd all apologize to him.
If you were heading toward anywhere cool enough to be worth going, Apple Maps would have gotten you there. If you want to navigate to places that are the geographical equivalent of the crappy ERP software that keeps you using XP at work, well, you'll just have to use something else...
Re:I miss Steve Jobs (Score:4, Funny)
"You live in a really obscure town, I've probably never heard of it."
--Apple
Re:I miss Steve Jobs (Score:5, Funny)
You may actually be on to something.
Think about how excited all the hipsters will be when they discover the new Maps application has either never heard of, or cannot find, their favorite stores/bars/locations!
"I'm heading out to this new oxygen bar. You've probably never heard of it. Even my iPhone hasn't."
Wait, What? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wait, What? (Score:4, Insightful)
No, the plan was never "no google maps on iOS" the plan was "we need turn-by-turn navigation in iOS and our existing deal with Google does not enable that and we can't agree on licensing terms so we will have to roll our own".
There's no conspiracy to exorcise Google from iOS - they still have several apps on iOS, it's just that the native maps app is no longer one of them (an app written by Apple in the first place).
You've always been able to use google maps from Safari (or make an icon for it so you can launch it like an app), and many people did it this way because it had more features then the built in app which hadn't been updated in a long time. The same thing was true of Youtube - the version provided by Google on the web was better than the built in one (which Apple wrote back in 2007 and didn't see the need to update for this reason).
Somewhere, Google is Smiling (Score:4, Funny)
Steve Jobs must be turning in his grave. It sounds like Mr. Cook failed to learn from Mr. Job's demand for perfection before release. I guess this could be like iPhone v1 not having the copy and paste feature at product launch. Eventually, I wonder if people will get sick of dealing with this kind of attitude from Apple? I did - a long time ago.
Re: (Score:3)
A solution to both the iOS 6 map problem and iPhone V1 copy/paste problem is to simple: skip the first revision of a significant iteration. An iPhone 4S with iOS 5 has great maps. Early adopters have been treated as beta testers for years, and not just by Apple.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
" An iPhone 4S with iOS 5 has great maps"
No it doesn't... It doesn't even do basic turn-by-turn routing. Something standalone GPS units and Google Maps have had for years.
Re:Somewhere, Google is Smiling (Score:4, Funny)
The Maps app does indeed do basic turn-by-turn routing. What it doesn't do is text-to-voice, to announce the upcoming turns. Until Google released "Google Maps Navigation", Maps on Android didn't announce turns either.
Re:Somewhere, Google is Smiling (Score:5, Insightful)
turn-by-turn routing... Something standalone GPS units and Google Maps have had for years.
Which is exactly why Apple chose to invest in their own map data and software: they could not come to an acceptable agreement with their direct competitor to allow them to offer this feature. Apple made the right decision. When they catch up in a year they will be in a better place and consumers will have more choice. Win, win.
Re: (Score:3)
and that's useless while driving
i'm not stupid enough to look at my phone every 2 seconds to make sure i didn't miss a turn. between apple maps, waze and navigon i have no need of google maps and have a lot more features than with android
Where's Steve? (Score:3, Interesting)
Steve Jobs never would have apologized. While he was certainly one to recognize errors and correct them expeditiously, he'd never own up to it in public. His sometimes boisterous show of unwillingness to compromise is partly what has created Apple's entire image as a "no compromise" company.
Tim Cook is certainly a different guy, with a different approach. I feel he has somehow cheapened the iGadgets with this move - first by releasing a product that never should have made it through validation, and second by apologizing for it in public.
Re:Where's Steve? (Score:4, Insightful)
Really? That's funny, because when Cook started, AAPL was trading at ~$400; now it's trading at ~$700. If you think a 75% stock value increase in 12 months qualifies as a "major fuck up", then I'd like to know what stocks you're investing in.
Re: (Score:3)
when Cook started, AAPL was trading at ~$400; now it's trading at ~$700.
It shows that Tim Cook is good at milking the cow, but the cow is getting old.
I knew it (Score:4, Funny)
Ha I knew Apple would blame then end user for everything and spin it as just another fea... wait what?
This is actually quite a dramatic about face from the usual way Apple deals with problems. Where's the blame, then the spin, and instead of an apology I was expecting Tim Cook holding up a competitor's product going "see it has problems too!"
I'm impressed.
Re: (Score:3)
I suspect the different approach is because Apple has finally figured out that this is a very different problem from any they've faced in the past. They can't put coders or engineers on overtime and issue a patch or change the design and offer to exchange bad phones within a few days or a few weeks.
This is a problem that's going to persist for months, possibly years - as they scramble to build what amounts to an entirely new division producing an new product line (one that existing companies have already b
Maps sure, but what about the OS? (Score:3, Insightful)
I want an apology for the fact that they've decided my 2.5 year old iPad isn't getting an iOS upgrade.
That's way too short of a life to decide to abandon it. Telling your early adopters "tough luck" isn't a great idea.
Re:Maps sure, but what about the OS? (Score:5, Insightful)
But hey, fuck Apple! Right?
they are not too bad in NYC (Score:3)
i've used them here. the parsing is screwy. you have to input the address exactly or it will screw it up. but it wasn't too much trouble to do it for a few contacts.
otherwise the routing works very nicely. previous maps app didn't have turn by turn and this is a pretty big improvement. especially the real time traffic from waze that's built in
Re: (Score:3)
Failure in reporting (Score:5, Informative)
Good job driving ad traffic to BGR, who didn't even bother to link to the original source:
http://www.apple.com/letter-from-tim-cook-on-maps/ [apple.com]
Remove GMaps, Suggest GMaps Website? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Remove GMaps, Suggest GMaps Website? (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe because it doesn't run on iOS6 and is many years old and has less function than using Google maps in the browser?
Just a (well known, well reported) thought.
iApologize (Score:3)
Never thought I would see the day where Apple would introduce the iApologize...
Danger of confusing Apps with Operating System (Score:3, Interesting)
Apple screwed up (although they are haldly unique) is pushing the concept that an Operating system is a bunch of personal and productivity applications. Road Navigation software is not part of the operating system.
The OS is the core environment, utility, houskeeping software, and desktop. Marketing idiots have confused the common consumer into thinking an OS also has programs for adding glitter to ponies.
As seen here, when an app breaks the perception becomes the who OS is flawed.
Re:Danger of confusing Apps with Operating System (Score:5, Insightful)
No one outside the IT industry cares about the boundary between OS and applications. That's purely inside baseball. End users want their product to work in a user-friendly, integrated fashion.
A correction (Score:5, Informative)
The idea that Steve Jobs never apologized for anything seems to be starting to become a common Slashdot misconception.
I'm sure people can think of times when they wish he did apologize for something, but to say he never did would be inaccurate.
Clever apologies (Score:4, Informative)
The first apology is for selling too much too quickly.
The second apology is for lowering the price of the their product.
This is like when in an interview, the interviewer asks "What are your weakness", you say "Sometimes I work too hard".
So then let people go back to 5.X (Score:3, Funny)
I think what we (the consumers and people concerned with lock-in) should be pushing for is the ability to go back to older versions of iOS on devices that we own. If every story about this failure mentioned that people who try the new version are locked in without the ability to go back to a working version, maybe Apple would cave.
Re:It really is the House of Steve (Score:4, Insightful)
plenty of crap released under steve jobs
Re:It really is the House of Steve (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, but when it was Steve's crap it was a stunning shade of UPS brown, shined like the top of the Chrysler building, and the smell was described as "earthy and inviting, like a forest floor on a spring morning" by all the bloggers.
Re:It really is the House of Steve (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're a football fan, I'd compare Steve Jobs & Apple to Peyton Manning & the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts were built around Manning, and when the team was all there, it worked perfectly. However, with Manning gone, they couldn't play the way they were designed to. Both the offense & defense were picked to complement Manning, and with any other quarterback, they are a poor team.
I'd say the same with Apple. I think Cook can be a great change for Apple, but the team that has been built has been built for another quarterback. Either Cook needs to act like Jobs (which I think is a bad idea) or Cook needs to change the mindset and likely many of the staff at Apple.
Either they keep going the same way or make a drastic shift, they can't work on a middle ground.
Re: (Score:3)
The magic was he was usually right, AND he had the balls to tell the c levels suits, and the board of directors, to go shove it their ass if necessary. Cook is a supply chain guy, MBA, a cost cutter. No balls.
Re:Admitted Failure (Score:5, Informative)
Just because it doesn't have a building exactly there doesn't mean it isn't valid to search for it. There is a 300 block on E 15th street, and searching for 315 on any mapping app other than iOS 6 maps will at least take you to a location interpolated between the two nearest real buildings on the odd side of the street.
In this case, looking at the maps, it's a public park. It's perfectly valid to reference the park as "3xx E 15th street" where xx is odd. If you search for this, you should get some point along the street on the edge of the park.
Also, someone could be searching for a valid address and typo the number. Easy to do - Any SANE mapping app will degrade gracefully in this case and take you to a location that's within visual range of your actual desired destination. Only iOS 6 maps won't.
iOS 6 maps is the only one that will take you to A COMPLETELY WRONG ROAD.
Valid search, but works on Apple (Score:4, Informative)
Just because it doesn't have a building exactly there doesn't mean it isn't valid to search for it.
In which case Apple still finds it. [appleinsider.com]
The Motorola ad was complete fabrication. But outright lies are OK as long as it's funny!
Re:Admitted Failure (Score:4, Informative)
If you force it to look only in Manhattan by searching for "315 E 15th St Manhattan", it does interpolate the building numbers as you describe and returns a location in the park.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/27/googles-ilost-motorola-ad-faked-an-address-to-lose-ios-6-maps [appleinsider.com]
It's a trap. (Score:3)