“Apple Inc. might soon be launching the public transportation directions feature on Apple Maps, which will put it head to head against Google Inc’s Google Maps,” Ritesh Anan reports for Benzinga.
“Kevin Nabipour, SVP, Content Strategies at Allison & Partners, was on CNBC Friday to weigh in on this,” Anan reports. “Nabipour was asked how difficult it would be for Apple to convince people to switch from Google Maps to Apple Maps. He replied, ‘I think it’s going to be tough. It’s an uphill climb for them to be able to justify that they are the provider for this type of information. I think you could see that it’s going to be a valuable feature on the Apple Watch. I mean, imagine just kind of walking around and being on-the-go and getting transit updates on your wrist. That makes a lot of sense and it feels like that’ll be a really exciting feature.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iOS users have already switched from Google Maps to Apple Maps. Any non-technical iPhone or iPad user (in other words, almost all of them) use what comes baked in: Apple Maps.
As we explained back in November 2012:
Google made a crucial mistake: They gave away Android to “partners” who pushed and continue to push the product into the hands of the exact opposite type of user that Google needs for Android to truly thrive. Hence, Android is a backwater of second-rate, or worse, app versions that are only downloaded when free or ad-supported – but the Android user is notoriously cheap, so the ads don’t sell for much because they don’t work very well. You’d have guessed that Google would have understood this, but you’d have guessed wrong. Google built a platform that depends heavily on advertising support, but sold it to the very type of customer who’s the least likely to patronize ads.
iOS users are the ones who buy apps, so developers focus on iOS users. iOS users buy products, so accessory makers focus on iOS users. iOS users have money and the proven will to spend it, so vehicle makers focus on iOS users. Etcetera. Android can have the “Hee Haw” demographic. Apple doesn’t want it or need it; it’s far more trouble than it’s worth.
And, as we wrote back in September 2012:
Have fun tracking and trying to sell ads bound for your cheapskate “Buy One Get X Free” Fragmandroid pigeons. This is all Google’s loss: iOS users are the ones with money to spend and the will to spend it; you’ll have no access to hundreds of millions of the world’s cream-of-the-crop consumers…
That’s right, the world’s best, most well-heeled mobile consumers do not use Google Maps.
Meanwhile, Apple’s Maps will relentlessly continue to improve…
Let Google’s rueing continue unabated.
Related articles:
Apple Maps makes killer comeback as Google Maps loses access to world’s most desirable mobile customers – November 12, 2013
Apple Maps puts the hurt on Google Maps – November 11, 2013
WIth iOS 7, Apple’s Maps has arrived; it’s now better than Google Maps – September 25, 2013
