“On Monday I had a meeting at Apple with podcaster Leo LaPorte, TWiT CEO Lisa Kentzell, and marketing guy Glenn Rubenstein. We were in three separate cars, each with a different navigation system, and we had several places to stop, including 1 Infinite Loop at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino,” John C. Dvorak writes for PC Magazine. “Unbeknownst to everyone else, lest they race around like madmen, this was a battle of the systems.”
“Leo was using Waze, which he thinks is great. He was misdirected in one instance and took forever to get there. He got lost for unknown reasons at another target location. Overall, he—and Waze—came in third (and last),” Dvorak writes. “Glenn, who actually inspired my idea for the test, was using Apple Maps, which he switched to after iOS 6 dumped Google Maps. ‘I don’t have any trouble with it,’ he said. ‘It works fine.'”
Dvorak writes, “In fact, it worked better than Google. On one leg from the Apple facility to a shopping mall, Glenn beat me, though just barely. Leo was the laggard. But then from that location to a lunch spot, Glenn and I followed each other. Suddenly, Glenn jumped on to the freeway as Google Maps directed me through the city streets for a cut across town… Glenn arrived at least five minutes ahead of me. I gave the nod to Apple and now wonder what the fuss was about.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The “fuss” is FUD based upon an overhyped launch that should’ve been labeled “beta” (heckuva job, Scottie; here’s your pink slip) which contained some errors which immediately opened Apple up to critics, competitors, stock manipulators, and haters who are continually lying in wait, ready to pounce. As with virtually everything “bad” that the general population hears about Apple, it’s a mountain made out of a molehill that’s intended to damage Apple in some way.
This is no different than “iPod screen scratches,” “Antennagate,” etc. Take a minor issue (or invent one) and then blow it all out of proportion in the media echo chamber in a quixotic attempt to slow down the inevitable record-shattering iPhone 5 sales. These sort of FUD campaigns have been going on after major Apple product releases for years. Antennagate was a two-parter – they actually used it twice! (Nothing smells worse than recycled FUD.)
Just like all the anti-Apple FUD that’s gone before, this won’t work, either. – MacDailyNews Take, September 20, 2012
Related articles:
Apple makes massive iOS Maps app hiring push – February 5, 2013
Apple’s Eddy Cue racing to overhaul Maps – November 28, 2012
Apple to Maps manager Williamson: Get lost – November 27, 2012
Forstall pushed out by Cook, source says; news met with ‘quiet jubilation’ inside Apple – October 30, 2012
Can Apple exec Eddy Cue work his magic on Apple Maps? – October 31, 2012
Survey: Apple Maps apps issue irrelevant as massive iPhone 5 sales continue – October 12, 2012
Turn-by-Turn Navigation Shootout: iPhone 5′s Apple Maps app vs. Android Google Maps vs. GMC navigation system – October 8, 2012
Give Apple maps a chance – October 7, 2012
The media turned down Overreaction Road on Apple Maps – September 29, 2012
