“Using Apple’s new maps system could be potentially life-threatening, police in Mildura, Australia, have warned, after a number of people trying to find the town of 30,000 people have become hopelessly lost in scorching temperatures,” Charles Arthur reports for The Guardian.
“One man was stranded for 24 hours last week in temperatures of up to 46 degrees centigrade, and at least three more have had to be rescued after following the directions given on Apple’s new maps, which locate Mildura far from its actual position,” Arthur reports. “‘We’ve had at least four documented cases,’ senior sargeant Stephen Phelan told the Guardian. ‘The map puts it at least 70 kilometres from where it should be. We have had people bogged down in sunset country.'”
“The Mildura police have now issued a warning on their website,” Arthur reports. “Getting lost in the park around Mildura is potentially deadly: ‘There’s no water, and you can get bogged down in the sand,’ explained Toby Prime, a reporter on the local Sunraysia Daily. ‘Temperatures go up to 46 degrees and there’s no water.’ …The warning from police means that Apple’s maps have moved from being an embarrassment, for which a number of managers were fired, to a seriously damaging problem for the company. If similar problems were to emerge in the US it could open Apple to expensive lawsuits.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Tom Bamford” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Heckuva job, Scottie!
No matter what Apple does, no matter how much better they make Apple Maps, it will now always “suck” in the minds of a large segment of the population… The fool(s) responsible for preparing Maps for release and then releasing it with obvious issues (overblown as they are) and therefore tainting Maps forever should face severe consequences. As in: Pink slip(s)… Apple seems to have learned nothing from the Newton: First impressions mean everything. Apple’s Maps have been Newtonized. All that’s missing is the Doonesbury strip. – MacDailyNews Take, September 28, 2012
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Apple promises to fix Maps glitches by rearranging earth’s geography (with video) – December 6, 2012
Apple’s Eddy Cue racing to overhaul Maps – November 28, 2012
Apple to Maps manager Williamson: Get lost – November 27, 2012
Days after Tim Cook’s apology, Apple’s Maps shows improvements – October 12, 2012
Tim Cook open letter: We fell short with new Maps app; we are extremely sorry – September 28, 2012