4 ms·

The letter he should have written is exactly the letter he did write. Apple is not a bulleted-list kind of company, nor are they a reveal-implementation-details

The letter he should have written is exactly the letter he did write. Apple is not a bulleted-list kind of company, nor are they a reveal-implementation-details kind of company. No one knows, nor do they need to know, where inside the organization (and under whom) the Maps team lives. The important message, "we know about it and we're going to fix it", is all that needed to come across.

jug6ernaut 14y ago
So your ok with them taking away a better product for a crappy one simply because they know about it and are trying to fix it? Both of those points have been obvious to Apple for at least 6 months, when the beta came out.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  Nobody said that, what he's saying is that the letter issued today is not substantially different from this blog post's idea of the letter. Everyone knows the maps suck, the question is one of how one should conduct the damage control. I personally don't see a problem with Tim Cook's PR message. It was short, on point, and didn't deflect much. But that won't stop from the peanut gallery from taking cheap shots. Because when it comes to product launches, we're all suddenly PR experts.
- saddino 14y ago
  I'm ok with them taking away a better hamstrung licensed product for a crappy one that will only get better simply because it probably had to happen at some point. Yes it's been obvious to Apple (and developers like myself since PR1), but the apology is not for making the decision, the apology is for not being honest with its customers about its current quality.
  - jug6ernaut 14y ago
    Ok, ill go with that. My issue is with how its presented, like it was some revelation. Granted there is probably a method to there madness, it seems to me like they are shooting themself in the foot with raising themself so high when they know they are going to fall(specifically to maps).
- uxp 14y ago
  > Both of those points have been obvious to Apple for at least 6 months I'm getting tired of this argument. Where was everyone when this was so completely obvious 6 months ago? The beta was released, people were using it, and I can't find any criticisms outside of "It's not perfect, but it's working great and looks fantastic". Where are the bug reports? Sure, it was an NDA product, but that didn't stop bloggers from publishing stories about it: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/08/09/3d-map-wars-apple-vs-google/ http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/08/09/3d-map-wars-apple-vs... http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/why-apples-map-looks-so-bad/ http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/why-apples-map-look... http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/11/goodbye-to-google-maps-with-street-view-hello-to-apples-new-maps-with-3d-flyovers/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/11/goodbye-to-google-maps-with... http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/ios-6-maps-app-challenges/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/ios-6-maps-app-challe... http://gizmodo.com/5918176/google-maps-vs-apple-maps-a-side-by-side-comparison http://gizmodo.com/5918176/google-maps-vs-apple-maps-a-side-... http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57450354-37/apples-new-3d-maps-app-brings-smart-gps-to-ios/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57450354-37/apples-new-3d-... http://www.cultofmac.com/183742/apples-3d-maps-in-ios-6-are-insanely-detailed-when-compared-with-googles-video/ http://www.cultofmac.com/183742/apples-3d-maps-in-ios-6-are-... http://mashable.com/2012/06/11/apple-vs-google-maps/ http://mashable.com/2012/06/11/apple-vs-google-maps/ http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/06/google_maps_can_apple_dominate_mapping_by_kicking_google_off_the_iphone_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/06/... http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-06-12-apple-maps-already-has-more-business-listings-than-google/ http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-06-12-apple-maps-alre...
  - jug6ernaut 14y ago
    "Obvious to Apple" Apple != public. Plus it was a beta, ppl are not going to go crazy complaining about a beta product because they expected it to be fixed. That is something only Apple would know.
    - batista 14y ago
      >Plus it was a beta, ppl are not going to go crazy complaining about a beta product because they expected it to be fixed. That's not how it works. People complain about beta software all the time. Case in point, Siri, after it's introduction.
- batista 14y ago
  >So your ok with them taking away a better product for a crappy one simply because they know about it and are trying to fix it? No, he is not OK. He is just able to understand the business reasons behind it and knows that this is not a user-complain forum. "They made the Maps worse" is neither interesting, nor new. For one, everyone can see that. It's more important to see why they did it, if they could avoid it, and how they should fix it, than to complain about it.
chadhuber 14y ago
"Apple is not a bullet list company." You do realize that I copied Steve's MobileMe letter... and replaced MobileMe with Maps? I think Steve knows what kind of company Apple is and he used bullets. http://arstechnica.com/apple/2008/08/steve-jobs-on-mobileme-the-full-e-mail/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2008/08/steve-jobs-on-mobileme-...
- bengl3rt 14y ago
  As other commenters have pointed out, the MobileMe letter was internal. Apple is not an outwardly bulleted-list kind of company.

jug6ernaut 14y ago

So your ok with them taking away a better product for a crappy one simply because they know about it and are trying to fix it? Both of those points have been obvious to Apple for at least 6 months, when the beta came out.

potatolicious 14y ago
Nobody said that, what he's saying is that the letter issued today is not substantially different from this blog post's idea of the letter. Everyone knows the maps suck, the question is one of how one should conduct the damage control. I personally don't see a problem with Tim Cook's PR message. It was short, on point, and didn't deflect much. But that won't stop from the peanut gallery from taking cheap shots. Because when it comes to product launches, we're all suddenly PR experts.
saddino 14y ago
I'm ok with them taking away a better hamstrung licensed product for a crappy one that will only get better simply because it probably had to happen at some point. Yes it's been obvious to Apple (and developers like myself since PR1), but the apology is not for making the decision, the apology is for not being honest with its customers about its current quality.
- jug6ernaut 14y ago
  Ok, ill go with that. My issue is with how its presented, like it was some revelation. Granted there is probably a method to there madness, it seems to me like they are shooting themself in the foot with raising themself so high when they know they are going to fall(specifically to maps).
uxp 14y ago
> Both of those points have been obvious to Apple for at least 6 months I'm getting tired of this argument. Where was everyone when this was so completely obvious 6 months ago? The beta was released, people were using it, and I can't find any criticisms outside of "It's not perfect, but it's working great and looks fantastic". Where are the bug reports? Sure, it was an NDA product, but that didn't stop bloggers from publishing stories about it: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/08/09/3d-map-wars-apple-vs-google/ http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/08/09/3d-map-wars-apple-vs... http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/why-apples-map-looks-so-bad/ http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/why-apples-map-look... http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/11/goodbye-to-google-maps-with-street-view-hello-to-apples-new-maps-with-3d-flyovers/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/11/goodbye-to-google-maps-with... http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/ios-6-maps-app-challenges/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/ios-6-maps-app-challe... http://gizmodo.com/5918176/google-maps-vs-apple-maps-a-side-by-side-comparison http://gizmodo.com/5918176/google-maps-vs-apple-maps-a-side-... http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57450354-37/apples-new-3d-maps-app-brings-smart-gps-to-ios/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57450354-37/apples-new-3d-... http://www.cultofmac.com/183742/apples-3d-maps-in-ios-6-are-insanely-detailed-when-compared-with-googles-video/ http://www.cultofmac.com/183742/apples-3d-maps-in-ios-6-are-... http://mashable.com/2012/06/11/apple-vs-google-maps/ http://mashable.com/2012/06/11/apple-vs-google-maps/ http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/06/google_maps_can_apple_dominate_mapping_by_kicking_google_off_the_iphone_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/06/... http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-06-12-apple-maps-already-has-more-business-listings-than-google/ http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-06-12-apple-maps-alre...
- jug6ernaut 14y ago
  "Obvious to Apple" Apple != public. Plus it was a beta, ppl are not going to go crazy complaining about a beta product because they expected it to be fixed. That is something only Apple would know.
  - batista 14y ago
    >Plus it was a beta, ppl are not going to go crazy complaining about a beta product because they expected it to be fixed. That's not how it works. People complain about beta software all the time. Case in point, Siri, after it's introduction.
batista 14y ago
>So your ok with them taking away a better product for a crappy one simply because they know about it and are trying to fix it? No, he is not OK. He is just able to understand the business reasons behind it and knows that this is not a user-complain forum. "They made the Maps worse" is neither interesting, nor new. For one, everyone can see that. It's more important to see why they did it, if they could avoid it, and how they should fix it, than to complain about it.

chadhuber 14y ago

"Apple is not a bullet list company." You do realize that I copied Steve's MobileMe letter... and replaced MobileMe with Maps? I think Steve knows what kind of company Apple is and he used bullets. http://arstechnica.com/apple/2008/08/steve-jobs-on-mobileme-the-full-e-mail/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2008/08/steve-jobs-on-mobileme-...

bengl3rt 14y ago
As other commenters have pointed out, the MobileMe letter was internal. Apple is not an outwardly bulleted-list kind of company.