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Now that I've read this, I was starting to think the same thing. Apple is completely capable of creating good software. They have all the resources they need, a

Now that I've read this, I was starting to think the same thing. Apple is completely capable of creating good software. They have all the resources they need, and "polish" is what their company is all about, so why release a sub-par app? Yes it's far fetched, but not beyond possible.

blhack 14y ago
That reality distortion field is pretty powerful. Wow.
seiji 14y ago
Of the difficult data problems in the world, creating an online mirror map of the physical world is probably in the top three. Let's say Apple tried. They didn't know how hard it would be, so they bought all the companies they could. They realized, "shit--this still won't be good enough, but we can't give in to mountain view." Their only move? Release 98% done maps anyway and hope Google misses the iOS map spying ad traffic. iOS maps is perfectly usable, but it's not perfect for every situation (park layouts, transit, inside building directions, more sane turn-by-turn routing). Google has been doing massive data collection for years (mapping individual internal building layouts? street view gps trails by bike? insane on a world scale.) How can anybody possibly get close to the polish of Google's mapping data (varying wildly by country though)? Apple should have made every Apple Store a base of mapping operations. They should have sent people out with gps loggers to run, bike, walk, drive everywhere they could. Someday a company will buy google just for its mapping capability and toss the rest in the bitbucket.
- theorique 14y ago
  Someday a company will buy google just for its mapping capability and toss the rest in the bitbucket. Sounds like you're exaggerating for effect but still ... wat? What company is at a scale to buy Google and kill its cash cow of search advertising? And why would they?
  - seiji 14y ago
    Thought experiment: a company buying google (10, 20, 50 years hence) would be much bigger and may not care about tiny revenue streams.
    - theorique 14y ago
      That assumes that Google's search ad revenue, and perhaps their growing application service provider revenue, are going to be tiny relative to this hypothetical acquiring company's revenue. It seems absurd now, but on those timelines you could be right. If nothing else, a lot can change in 10-50 years.
sk5t 14y ago
Apple has created and released loads of rubbish software over the years, but most people have forgotten much of it. Consider the short attention given to OS X Server / AWO, MobileMe, the ongoing security problems with Apple IDs, forcing people to have iCloud email addresses in order to sync the Notes app... not to mention the VERY long span of time where Windows absolutely kicked MacOS's butt in being able to multitask effectively. Oh yeah, and iTunes. It's better-looking now, but it remains a monster. To call it sub-par would still be kind.

blhack 14y ago

That reality distortion field is pretty powerful. Wow.

seiji 14y ago

Of the difficult data problems in the world, creating an online mirror map of the physical world is probably in the top three. Let's say Apple tried. They didn't know how hard it would be, so they bought all the companies they could. They realized, "shit--this still won't be good enough, but we can't give in to mountain view." Their only move? Release 98% done maps anyway and hope Google misses the iOS map spying ad traffic. iOS maps is perfectly usable, but it's not perfect for every situation (park layouts, transit, inside building directions, more sane turn-by-turn routing). Google has been doing massive data collection for years (mapping individual internal building layouts? street view gps trails by bike? insane on a world scale.) How can anybody possibly get close to the polish of Google's mapping data (varying wildly by country though)? Apple should have made every Apple Store a base of mapping operations. They should have sent people out with gps loggers to run, bike, walk, drive everywhere they could. Someday a company will buy google just for its mapping capability and toss the rest in the bitbucket.

theorique 14y ago
Someday a company will buy google just for its mapping capability and toss the rest in the bitbucket. Sounds like you're exaggerating for effect but still ... wat? What company is at a scale to buy Google and kill its cash cow of search advertising? And why would they?
- seiji 14y ago
  Thought experiment: a company buying google (10, 20, 50 years hence) would be much bigger and may not care about tiny revenue streams.
  - theorique 14y ago
    That assumes that Google's search ad revenue, and perhaps their growing application service provider revenue, are going to be tiny relative to this hypothetical acquiring company's revenue. It seems absurd now, but on those timelines you could be right. If nothing else, a lot can change in 10-50 years.

sk5t 14y ago

Apple has created and released loads of rubbish software over the years, but most people have forgotten much of it. Consider the short attention given to OS X Server / AWO, MobileMe, the ongoing security problems with Apple IDs, forcing people to have iCloud email addresses in order to sync the Notes app... not to mention the VERY long span of time where Windows absolutely kicked MacOS's butt in being able to multitask effectively. Oh yeah, and iTunes. It's better-looking now, but it remains a monster. To call it sub-par would still be kind.