Tim Cook Apologizes for Problems with Apple Maps Discussion

[Michael Wall]

Tim Cook CEO Apple has written a letter apologizing for the current problems plaguing Apple Maps. What does this mean for the future of Apple Maps?

Read the full content of this Article: Tim Cook Apologizes for Problems with Apple Maps

Related Articles:

• Apple iPhone 5 Faster Than First Thought
• Google Denies Rumors It's Bringing Its Maps App Back to the iPhone
• Apple iOS 6 for iPhone Review

[Mitlov]

A very un-Jobs-like way of handling things. Mind you, that's not a criticism; I'm not someone who says the Jobs way is the best way.

[lelisa13p]

Seriously, this whole sh*tstorm could have been avoided by simply categorizing the Maps app as a beta release. Everyone understands when those run amok.

[headcronie]

But you don't replace a known working application with a beta. You introduce a beta to an environment where there is a functioning product already. They flat out released this as their flagship product. Beta? Not even passable as Alpha.

[lelisa13p]

And releasing it as a workable product was a mistake. And Apple knows it. And everyone else knows it. But it will get better; Google Maps wasn't always the app that it is today, either.

[questionfear]

But you don't replace a known working application with a beta. You introduce a beta to an environment where there is a functioning product already. They flat out released this as their flagship product. Beta? Not even passable as Alpha.

Which is why they shocked the crap out of everyone by admitting they messed up badly.

I think this is very calculated-apologize for the blatant failure, and the next gray area issue will get swept under the rug...but hey, they apologize for big issues, so this gray area issue must not be a big one!

This falls under the same "cheaper to apologize than change" PR move as the free iPhone 4 cases and the $100 credit for original iPhone users pre-price drop.

Anyhow, for cranky iPhone users, check out Scout; I am enjoying it immensely as a maps replacement.

[Ed Hardy]

From my research, this is a prime example of two companies fighting it out with users getting caught in the middle.

According to information that has leaked out, Apple decided it needed to add turn-by-turn spoken navigation to the iOS. Android has offered this for years, and Apple felt it gave its competitor a significant advantage. Google, of course, was the company behind the Maps apps in iOS at that time, so Apple went to Google to talk to it about adding navigation.

Google agreed, but there were conditions, of course. One of the main ones was that Maps be re-named "Google Maps". Also, Google wanted access to more information about users of this app -- the same sorts of info it gathers from Android users. Apple refused, and got to work on its own version of Maps.

[questionfear]

From my research, this is a prime example of two companies fighting it out with users getting caught in the middle.

According to information that has leaked out, Apple decided it needed to add turn-by-turn spoken navigation to the iOS. Android has offered this for years, and Apple felt it gave its competitor a significant advantage. Google, of course, was the company behind the Maps apps in iOS at that time, so Apple went to Google to talk to it about adding navigation.

Google agreed, but there were conditions, of course. One of the main ones was that Maps be re-named "Google Maps". Also, Google wanted access to more information about users of this app -- the same sorts of info it gathers from Android users. Apple refused, and got to work on its own version of Maps.

Wow. So in the end apple has egg on their face and google will likely get SOME of what they want (I doubt they will get as much data as they would like, but they will be able to ask for more than Apple probably would have offered previously).

Most of the time I think Google is relatively crappy at being savvy in business, but by dint of luck or smarts they definitely win here.

[lelisa13p]

It seems to me that Apple's refusal to allow Google to obtain info from iPhone map users is fairly stupid. Google already has info from everyone in the world using all the rest of Google offerings. What's one more? We know that every iPhone user is not a Mac user so Apple's over-protective attitude - protecting our users from invasion of privacy, blah, blah, blah - doesn't really hold water.

I don't care who made my Maps app. I just want the damn thing to work properly and to be dependable.

[Mitlov]

It seems to me that Apple's refusal to allow Google to obtain info from iPhone map users is fairly stupid. Google already has info from everyone in the world using all the rest of Google offerings. What's one more? We know that every iPhone user is not a Mac user so Apple's over-protective attitude - protecting our users from invasion of privacy, blah, blah, blah - doesn't really hold water.

I don't care who made my Maps app. I just want the damn thing to work properly and to be dependable.

So long as the default search engine on the iPhone's web browser is Google instead of Bing or some other service, the argument that "we needed to swap out the mapping program to protect iPhone owners from Google information harvesting" doesn't hold water with me.

As for "we know that not every iPhone user is not a Mac user so Apple's over-protective attitude - protecting our users from invasion of privacy, blah, blah, blah - doesn't really hold water."...ironically, the opposite is true. Windows machines are less connected to Google than OSX machines are. OSX's Safari, like iOS's Safari, uses Google by default for searches. When you take a modern Windows machine out of the box, there's not one single aspect of it that uses Google services by default.