“Apple made two smallish acquisitions of map-related companies last week, Locationary and HotStop, that have produce some sneering press coverage since clearly in both instances the purchase is in a way an admission that Apple’s Maps product continues to be markedly inferior to Google Maps,” Matthew Yglesias writes for Slate.
“But I think that’s the wrong way to look at it,” Yglesias write. “The purchase of these companies is a confirmation that Apple’s risky Maps strategy is continuing to pay dividends and in retrospect we’re going to look back at this early Tim Cook decision not as an embarassing fiasco but as a gutsy savvy move.”
“Now what Apple needs to do is keep iterating so that its Maps app keeps getting better. In Apple’s ideal world, mapping applications will at some point reach an era of sharply diminishing returns so that Apple and Google will reach maps parity,” Yglesias write. “But an acceptable outcome is one in which Apple never catches Google in maps quality, but simply never allows Google to gain a large enough lead for it to become complacent about the quality of Google Maps for iOS.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple buys online transit-navigation service HopStop – July 20, 2013
Apple escalates maps war by nabbing Locationary – July 19, 2013
Apple acquires crowdsourced location data company Locationary – July 19, 2013
Google’s new 3D Maps destroy Manhattan with melting buildings and buckled streets – May 22, 2013
U.S. patent application reveals Apple is working on ‘Street View’ mapping technology – April 4, 2013
Apple acquires indoor location company WifiSLAM for $20 million – March 23, 2013
