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Apple and Google compete to build, maintain more perfect digital mapping systems (with video)

Thursday, November 1, 2012 · 1:02 pm · 18 Comments

In the business of modern mapmaking, there are high stakes for customer satisfaction.

When Apple released its iPhone 5, it replaced Google Maps with its own mapping technology — and users were not happy.

PBS’ Spencer Michels reports on the challenges of creating digital maps and how crowdsourcing is making them more accurate:

Watch Seeing the World in a Different Way Through Digital Maps on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "David G." for the heads up.]

Categories: News

Tags: Apple Maps, cartography, google, Google Maps, ios, iPad, iphone, iPod touch, mac, MacBook Air, macbook pro, Macintosh, map-making, mapping, maps, Maps app

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Comment Feed

18 Comments

correctu

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 1:16 pm · Reply

Apple doesn’t use crowdsourcing?
- praus
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:49 pm · Reply
  
  Yes, they do.
Maz

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 1:41 pm · Reply

Apple can’t beat google maps no way. And street view is awesome come on apple just stick to the maps u make good phone leave it at that
- rdiddy
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 1:57 pm · Reply
  
  Hey Maz….English…..Please learn it. Punctuation. Capitalization. Spelling.
  
  I will just leave it at that.
  - derss
    
    Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:13 pm · Reply
    
    And the street view does not help with automated directions anyway.
  - Dev
    
    Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:37 pm · Reply
    
    Capitalisation.
- auramac
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:20 pm · Reply
  
  That’s easy for you to say!
  
  (And difficult for me to understand..)
- praus
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:53 pm · Reply
  
  Actually they can beat google maps. It’s funny that people can’t seem to remember the far distant time of 2008. When Google maps first came out, they SUCKED! Then they got better. When they first came out they were way way worse then Apple’s maps are now. Apple has been and continues to fix their maps at an alarming rate.
  
  I think in a few years Apple’s maps will be far superior to Googles (they already are in some ways).
- Don
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 4:34 pm · Reply
  
  Apple has already beaten google maps in several ways, e.g. rendering, responsiveness, labelling, bandwidth economy, and flyover. Apple’s mapping foundation technologies are superior to those of Google.
  
  With that fine basis, Apple is now polishing the data side of the function. Let’s just leave it at that.
Tessellator

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:07 pm · Reply

Just seems like another google astro carpeting piece.
If they had wanted to report the truth they would have found that USERS weren’t really dissatisfied with Apple’s mapping app (borne out by the fact that even though presented with alternatives, very few actual iPhone users downloaded and or use them (other map apps) They by an overwhelming majority seem to like apple maps as the best app available.
Now it is interesting even though Google has bee asked to give a complete list of it’s “paid for” media sources and bloggers (by authorities) it hasn’t yet done so saying that “it’s complicated” (I’ll bet it is )
Now what I would like to know is; is PBS be one of the media outlets that google has been giving money to; and what if anything do they get in return?
RePlay

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:07 pm · Reply

Competition is good, right? That’s what we’ve been told, so two mapping programs must be good.
- praus
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:59 pm · Reply
  
  Yes, thats why there are TONS of mapping apps on the App Store just waiting to be downloaded. Google will come out with it’s own maps app eventually and that will also be on the store.
MEES

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 2:52 pm · Reply

I like PBS programs. However, the so-called problem with Apple’s Maps is overblown. Maps is a great start and prefer it over Google maps.
steve h.

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3:09 pm · Reply

I’ve been using Maps (turn-by-turn) extensively for the past two weeks in the greater Los Angeles area. It has performed flawlessly.
- 24january1984
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3:25 pm · Reply
  
  Me too. Flawless.
Really

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3:09 pm · Reply

Apple needs to expand their maps to the web and keep at it.

when sandy hit google set up storm tracking and relief center tagging in short order. It’s been a real help getting this data and if apple wants to be the market leader they need to be on this level imho.
- Steve81
  
  Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 9:45 pm · Reply
  
  If Apple maps is superior AND it’s available on the web, then it will be good for selling ads — but not good for selling iDevices. Any Android phone user could use it.
  
  That’s why Google didn’t make the superior version of its map program available on iPhones.
Rorschach

Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3:14 pm · Reply

I have used Apple Maps for route guidance, and, while it worked ok, there were better, more direct sections that it didn’t offer, and there’s no way to amend them. Google Maps was useless, because it couldn’t even find the destination. I use and will continue to use CoPilot Live, because, not only does it not rely on a network connection at any time, but the majority of the first option it gave for my 140 mile journey, it allows the route to be edited as well.
Another area where Google Maps falls flat on it’s ass is the satellite mapping; it’s data is at least six, possibly eight years out of date across most of the south of England, whereas Apple’s satellite view, although compromised around my home town by the image being low-res, a bit further east there are features I’m familiar with, including a crop formation, that shows in a harvested field, that places it around September last year. There are photos of it after it appeared in August ’11.