>Crucial insight, there. From the perspective of an observer who has no special affection for Apple, it's surprising that a company of that competence would suc

>Crucial insight, there. From the perspective of an observer who has no special affection for Apple, it's surprising that a company of that competence would succumb to such a basic process error. What insight? Apple makes most of their stuff themselves -- or gets them from multiple sources. Maps were an exception, as a key technology that was in the hands of a competitor. But not because Apple could help it at the time: they made a foray into a new territory, mobile phones, and Google had all the available technology and was a non competitor at the time (the first Android phone was out a year later, Oct 2008). It's a few years that they have already started the process of moving to something of their own. They bought some mapping companies, etc. Something forced their hands to make the switch before that was over. In any case, you can't just jump over 8+ years of refinements that Google maps have (not to mention all the "driving endless miles for Google Street View and road info, etc).