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> the maps thing is unfortunate, but I'm sure it will get better Based on what? The problem in the first place is that this is an insanely hard problem that i

> the maps thing is unfortunate, but I'm sure it will get better Based on what? The problem in the first place is that this is an insanely hard problem that is in the centre of Google's core competencies (data gathering, search, data munching; all on a ridiculously massive scale). Apple makes hardware and an operating system and some apps for it. Where in that set of core competencies does it indicate they have what it takes to tackle this and yield the quality google has (who have poured a rather large fortune into it (they bought the satellites for google maps so they could reshoot to avoid clouds), the have paid for high tech trucks to run down every road in an increasingly large collection of cities. And then massive human QA teams) This isn't what apple does and it was massive hubris on their part to think they could tackle this and come anywhere near the level of google maps, or their usual standard of excellence. I remain extremely dubious that there is any "quick" fix to their problem. It's not like the screwed up an algorithm and this is a bug, this is a massive problem that they've barely started to tackle. If Apple does realize what it's going to take to compete at this and doubles down on it, it's still going to take a year or two for them to catch up. And that's an if. So Apple Maps/iOS5 combo is a write off. Probably iOS6 too. You want good mapping the next few years, stick with google. Maybe after that Apple will have something worth looking at, just as likely maybe not.

arrrg 14y ago
1) It's not a complete disaster. It has loads of problems, but in general it's very usable. 2) During the beta phase maps improved rapidly. It was not usable a few months ago. Now it is. So it's not all bad and there already has been massive progress. I think in one year no one will care about this issue anymore. Google Maps will always be better, but the difference will become small enough that no one cares.
MBCook 14y ago
I think it will get better for two reasons: 1) It's been a black eye for Apple and users are complaining 2) Apple has a lot of money to throw at the problem
- snogglethorpe 14y ago
  Of course it will get better. The real question is whether it will get better enough, fast enough. There's certainly a limit to how much Apple will throw (they're not going to empty out their nest-egg to fix this), and throwing money at a problem doesn't always work so well. In particular, public-transit and in general any "non-car" data is something their maps simply don't seem to even start addressing. This isn't entirely surprising as their data provider, tomtom, is a car-nav company, but it's a huge hole, and one Apple seems to have completely missed. One of the reasons Google's public-transit directions took so many years to get good is because teasing the necessary data out of the many different regional agencies/companies that have it is a pain-staking and slow process. The very poor coverage in many countries is presumably because Apple's existing data providers do not have good coverage of them, so Apple probably needs to contract with region-specific providers, integrate their data (which may not be simple) with the Apple maps infrastructure etc. All of this is doable, but it takes time, maybe years. They really needed to do a lot of this, or at least a convincing chunk of it, before the big release, not "sometime in the future." Certainly Apple has reasons to make their own maps, but by releasing such core functionality in a form that's very clearly not ready for prime time, they've damaged their (extremely valuable) reputation as "the company that does things right."
cstejerean 14y ago
How much have you used the new maps in iOS 6? The new turn by turn directions. Apple finds my apartment building, whereas Google still puts it a mile away after 4 months. I've had Google find an address for me in the middle of a lake a couple of years back. It also routinely shows me completely unrelated answers every time I search for a business (ads presumably). Yes, the Apple maps have a few rough spots. But google isn't perfect either. From what I've seen so far I prefer the new Apple maps.

arrrg 14y ago

1) It's not a complete disaster. It has loads of problems, but in general it's very usable. 2) During the beta phase maps improved rapidly. It was not usable a few months ago. Now it is. So it's not all bad and there already has been massive progress. I think in one year no one will care about this issue anymore. Google Maps will always be better, but the difference will become small enough that no one cares.

MBCook 14y ago

I think it will get better for two reasons: 1) It's been a black eye for Apple and users are complaining 2) Apple has a lot of money to throw at the problem

snogglethorpe 14y ago
Of course it will get better. The real question is whether it will get better enough, fast enough. There's certainly a limit to how much Apple will throw (they're not going to empty out their nest-egg to fix this), and throwing money at a problem doesn't always work so well. In particular, public-transit and in general any "non-car" data is something their maps simply don't seem to even start addressing. This isn't entirely surprising as their data provider, tomtom, is a car-nav company, but it's a huge hole, and one Apple seems to have completely missed. One of the reasons Google's public-transit directions took so many years to get good is because teasing the necessary data out of the many different regional agencies/companies that have it is a pain-staking and slow process. The very poor coverage in many countries is presumably because Apple's existing data providers do not have good coverage of them, so Apple probably needs to contract with region-specific providers, integrate their data (which may not be simple) with the Apple maps infrastructure etc. All of this is doable, but it takes time, maybe years. They really needed to do a lot of this, or at least a convincing chunk of it, before the big release, not "sometime in the future." Certainly Apple has reasons to make their own maps, but by releasing such core functionality in a form that's very clearly not ready for prime time, they've damaged their (extremely valuable) reputation as "the company that does things right."

cstejerean 14y ago

How much have you used the new maps in iOS 6? The new turn by turn directions. Apple finds my apartment building, whereas Google still puts it a mile away after 4 months. I've had Google find an address for me in the middle of a lake a couple of years back. It also routinely shows me completely unrelated answers every time I search for a business (ads presumably). Yes, the Apple maps have a few rough spots. But google isn't perfect either. From what I've seen so far I prefer the new Apple maps.