“Reviews of Apple’s Maps have been mixed at best, but problems with the application may not be as bad as they’ve been made out to be, according to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak,” Spandas Lui reports for ZDNet.
“Wozniak said he was loving the iPhone 5, but admitted he was slightly disappointed with Apple Maps,” Lui reports. “The Apple co-founder is aware of the highly publicised errors with Apple’s Maps, but suspected the severity of the flaws has been exaggerated. ‘I have been reading about the problems, and I don’t know if they are that severe,’ he said.”
Lui reports, “He used the iPhone 4 antenna issue as an example. The phone was proven to lose reception when the antenna band is touched, leading to dropped calls. In normal use, Wozniak never really noticed the problem. ‘Sometimes, there are a lot of complaints about one little thing people spot, but it’s not that hard to deal with in life,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
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
I’ve got an idea! Let’s ask WOZNIAK what he thinks? With all due respect–when was the last time Woz did something that mattered in tech in the last 2 decades? He served an historical role at Apple once upon a time but certainly not in apple’s resurgence since ’96. Quit asking him what he thinks–it’s not relevant.
Exactly.
When you create something like Apple, you get to remain relevant for the rest of your life. Deal with it.
I think you’re missing the point. To the tech press Woz is an open goal to score a cheap shot at Apple. Badger him enough with leading questions and then select the quotes they want.
Woz is an extremely talented engineer who built a lot of the Apple ][ in his head. It’s no wonder he doesn’t see a problem with Android’s usability. Fortunately, Steve Jobs knew that for Apple to be a success it had to build devices for the rest of us.
Woz provided a perfectly reasonable response in this case. I recommend calling that a win and moving on.
Stop Bashing Woz, without him there would be no apple in the 1st place. He was asked a question and he answered truthfully. i am not impressed with apple maps either, but i understand and respect why apple ditched Google. Apple Maps are beta atm and therefore behind google maps, but in future with updates this will change.
The maps are certainly a lot more beautiful than any others out there!
good for you, in my part of the world (UK) the map coverage is not great, apart from major areas like central London. but given time this will improve and we will forget about google maps
++
I live in Cancun,Mexico ….maps is spot on here….
The only issue I’ve found with the new Apple Maps is that the nearby stores/places info is a little out of date. So far, the streets are in good shape. The big benefits have been turn-by-turn directions and vector-based maps, and these outweigh the growing pains by a big margin in my case. In a year or two, it shouldn’t even be a trade-off, so I’m thrilled with this change. If you mileage varies, just get one of the other free map apps from the App Store. How is this a “BIG DEAL” exactly?
I passed a tomtom car yesterday mapping our streets, I’m sure they are driving around in more
Places as well. I have been using navigon for the past 2 years now and will most
Likely continue to use it for turn by turn navigation. It works really well for me. I may never use apple’s maps. I find it funny how people are freaking out over this, seems
Nobody knows there are other apps for navigation let alone typing maps.google.com into safari.
My iPhone 5 is amazing! Anyone who doesn’t get one cause Maps is apparently bad is a sucker and is missing out big time!!
I’ve only used the new map app a half-dozen times. So far, it’s been accurate, although I don’t doubt there are problems, since friends have complained about it. Apple should have called it a beta perhaps, but Google Maps repeatedly sent me to the wrong location. The 3D function is miraculous. Touring central London on the app is light years ahead of Google; I could almost look into the windows of the apartment we rented on Tower Hill.
This is going to be typical of all future iPhone updates when FUD’s will come out of their crevices and look for something insignificant to complain about and blow up all over the net. This started with antennagate, Sirigate and now mapsgate.
There should be a word for these types of useless people.
Oh please. 99% of all press Apple gets is almost MDN-quality ballwashing. Relax and move on already.
Not making excuses for Apple here, but it is as if in the tech blog world everyone (particularly “fandroids”) have suddenly forgotten all the times Google’s maps totally screwed them over.
Whatever mapping software you use (Google maps, Apple’s Maps, map quest, etc.) if you are 100 percent depending on it you are opening yourself up for an inefficient or errant path to your destination. When it really matters that you get there on time, it’s never a bad idea to take a couple of extra minutes before you embark on your journey to compare a couple of the services. That’s what I do and usually between a couple of them you’ll find the “real” way to get there.
Let’s just be honest. Maps on iPhone sucks compared to Google Maps. They chose to focus on ridiculously unnecessary features like flyover before providing accurate location information and public transit routing. It’s not whether or not it can be fixed. I’m sure that they will fix it. But don’t replace an app that is a core feature of the world’s best selling smartphone with an inferior product. It may have cool, cutesy new features, but where it matters most, it falls flat. So, yes, it does deserve criticism. If Apple wants to play the “we are so great” card all of the time, expect to be blasted when you’re not so great. I’m a huge Apple fan and have been for years, but when fans lose the ability to realize when something isn’t so great about the thing they worship, then they are what we call “brainwashed”. Or, “idiots”. Zombies, attack!
I disagree that Apple Maps sucks compared to Google Maps. I just drove 4 hrs where there are spots of very little/no mobile coverage, and much of it was 2G it any data coverage. Apple Maps turn-by-turn kept the map showing everything along the way and correctly shouted out every turn. Google Maps using that navigation, if you moved into an area with poor coverage, you couldn’t get the map to redraw and basically you were a blue dot on a grid.
I like Apple Maps much better, and the Yelp! integration is great and useful. Flyover/Street View is overrated in both apps, IMO. I had many, many times when Street View was definitely NOT the view I was looking at on a street once I arrived at a location.
While I totally respect your thoughts, you just praised it mostly on the things that no one is really criticizing. It’s the things that Apple Maps is missing that are problematic, not the features it has in comparison to Google. No doubt Apple can trump Google on things. It’s just a matter of what they want to trump them on first. Unfortunately, Apple chose to focus on some really dumb things upfront. I’m glad it works well for you though. At least it’s helping someone!
The issue with describing every Apple problem as FUD is that it denigrates real problems… and, yes, every one of those problems was real. Just not for everyone.
Remember when AT&T was the only iPhone carrier and a lot (really a lot) of people complained about the lousy coverage. That clearly wasn’t FUD, but SOME people still had to chime in and say THEY had no problems and their coverage was excellent… as if everyone who complained was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Any particular problem may not have affected many, or may have been relatively minor… but when you’re the one with the problem, you want it fixed. You certainly don’t want (or need) to hear someone else say there is no problem and everything is perfect.
That’s not FUD… but it is bullshit.
I find it humous to hear complaints about how Google Maps has screwed people over. As if no one ever mis-read a print map and screwed themselves.
Besides, the issue is about Apple Maps. Stop obfuscating.
Also, who’s going to buy, or not buy, an iPhone just because of Maps?
The panoramic cameras that went everywhere to get those Google street views is a massive undertaking, and maybe Apple bit off more than it can chew. Apple should stick to the knitting and avoid pitfalls of other companies that get so big they become disfunctional.
Woz is correct that the media has blown this Apple Maps issue out of proportion. Apparently there are some mapping problems (I haven’t encountered any). It’s not like Google Maps are perfect, either. At least Apple doesn’t have pics of women peeing next to cars in Flyover (not that anyone has found yet!).
Apple will get Maps issues resolved; the app is too important not to fix it, and quickly. There are often glitches in new software of such a massive data undertaking when it is released upon real users who encounter real world situations. No amount of beta testing can uncover every issue.
It’s not just location issues though. There are no public transit directions which is a HUGE plus for Google Maps in cities. Think of how many people have iPhones in New York, Chicago (me), San Francisco, Boston, DC, Los Angeles, etc. All of those people now have to use alternate solutions to plot routes. Apple Maps actually has a button for it. And then it prompts you to use another solution! Again, it’s the core features that are lacking. No one said Google was perfect. But don’t replace them without having the same skill set at minimum. Worry about wowing everyone with frills after you get that right.