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What is the value (to Apple) in providing this kind of detail in maps, other than aesthetics? I'm trying to understand why Apple (or any company) would invest m

What is the value (to Apple) in providing this kind of detail in maps, other than aesthetics? I'm trying to understand why Apple (or any company) would invest money into what seems like a marginal improvement in UX. The city landscape is constantly changing, so there's associated maintainence cost too.

fetus8 7y ago
Better, more accurate maps are a good incentive to keep people using their platform. It's an incentive to continue using iOS, as now even better maps are built it! (This is my quick off the top logical explanation.)
matahwoosh 7y ago
potential bet on self-driving cars in the future - you'd want higher fidelity maps for those. Also, they can get more accurate navigation for pedestrians etc. Overall, IMHO, this is an investment in user experience.
- zyang 7y ago
  I don't think the fidelity here is high enough for self driving vehicles, but the expertise built-up in the process would pave way for next steps.
  - matahwoosh 7y ago
    Agreed, but also we don't know what exactly Apple (and also Google) is collecting - Apple Maps might only have subset of their data. Not to mention, having a good way to build realistic virtual environment for acceptance testing is probably key here to enable self-driving.
paul7986 7y ago
Its great especially as a duckDuckGo user. I no longer have to use Google/Google Maps to see a satellite view.
scumbert 7y ago
They're chasing parity with Google Maps
mturmon 7y ago
This was previously covered by a well-known post by the OP: https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat The necessary link between aerial imagery and on-ground navigation by mobile phone is a 3d map. I'd like to know where the front entrance is vs. the side entrance, is there a ramp vs. stairs, are these two buildings connected or not, is there a skyway, is there a penthouse on the roof, is there a garage behind the main house, etc.
- jandrese 7y ago
  So Google Street View is chopped liver? Flat gray 3D representations don't seem to answer those questions as well as just tooling around the building in Google Street View.
  - zapzupnz 7y ago
    Google's also moving towards adding 3D topography to their maps so I don't quite see what your point is. This isn't an Apple vs Google thing; they're both doing the same things, they just seem to have different priorities about the order in which they do it.
  - outworlder 7y ago
    > So Google Street View is chopped liver Yes. Because this is missing an important point. In order to render the data, the data has to be in a format understood by computers, which street view is not.
nielsbot 7y ago
Privacy and no ads are also features/competitive advantages. Also avoiding being beholden to Google.

fetus8 7y ago

Better, more accurate maps are a good incentive to keep people using their platform. It's an incentive to continue using iOS, as now even better maps are built it! (This is my quick off the top logical explanation.)

matahwoosh 7y ago

potential bet on self-driving cars in the future - you'd want higher fidelity maps for those. Also, they can get more accurate navigation for pedestrians etc. Overall, IMHO, this is an investment in user experience.

zyang 7y ago
I don't think the fidelity here is high enough for self driving vehicles, but the expertise built-up in the process would pave way for next steps.
- matahwoosh 7y ago
  Agreed, but also we don't know what exactly Apple (and also Google) is collecting - Apple Maps might only have subset of their data. Not to mention, having a good way to build realistic virtual environment for acceptance testing is probably key here to enable self-driving.

paul7986 7y ago

Its great especially as a duckDuckGo user. I no longer have to use Google/Google Maps to see a satellite view.

scumbert 7y ago

They're chasing parity with Google Maps

mturmon 7y ago

This was previously covered by a well-known post by the OP: https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat The necessary link between aerial imagery and on-ground navigation by mobile phone is a 3d map. I'd like to know where the front entrance is vs. the side entrance, is there a ramp vs. stairs, are these two buildings connected or not, is there a skyway, is there a penthouse on the roof, is there a garage behind the main house, etc.

jandrese 7y ago
So Google Street View is chopped liver? Flat gray 3D representations don't seem to answer those questions as well as just tooling around the building in Google Street View.
- zapzupnz 7y ago
  Google's also moving towards adding 3D topography to their maps so I don't quite see what your point is. This isn't an Apple vs Google thing; they're both doing the same things, they just seem to have different priorities about the order in which they do it.
- outworlder 7y ago
  > So Google Street View is chopped liver Yes. Because this is missing an important point. In order to render the data, the data has to be in a format understood by computers, which street view is not.

nielsbot 7y ago

Privacy and no ads are also features/competitive advantages. Also avoiding being beholden to Google.