“It might seem as if Apple chose its iOS 6 release last week to practice the biblical directive to love one’s enemy. For, by ejecting Google Maps from updated iPads and iPhones, Apple hath caused glorious comparisons to shine upon its foe,” Brad Hill writes for Engadget. “If most people were unaware of comparative feature sets and quality aspects that distinguish Google Maps from Apple Maps, every tech-loving person on God’s earth is an expert now.”
“I argue that replacing Google Maps with Apple Maps was shrewd, inevitable and an indicator that Apple understands the true battle it wages,” Hill writes. “By grafting its own Maps product into the nervous system of its mobile OS, Apple accomplishes two important things. First, the company’s primary mobile competitor is exorcised from the main body. This outcome might be viewed as the remedy to an ailment that never should have occurred… Second, Apple positions itself to harvest future local ad revenue. Apple Maps, despite its spatial confusions, has 25 percent more business listings (100 million of them) than Google does.”
Much more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Joe Architect” for the heads up.]
You can apologize for Apple
You can try to rationalize it and say it’s a “1.0” problem
The fact is that Apple simply did not allocate the development resources that would have been required to achieve feature parity with the previous map application. They went cheap, and it’s no surprise that the user experience has suffered with the loss of street view and public transit info.
Welcome to the new Apple, my friends. Delighting the customer is obviously no longer a priority for this company. Now it’s all about the number$.
I considered stopping reading when I got to this piece of abject stupidity:
I never touch Messages, choosing to handle messaging with brand-specific apps. Game Center? Be serious — the device is a gaming platform powered by the App Store. iTunes? I don’t buy media à la carte, and you shouldn’t either.
Wow. Seriously? I shouldn’t buy music one song at a time? Thanks for the advice, Giant Idiot.
——RM