Apple’s Maps Take a Wrong Turn

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Apple’s decision to ditch Google maps in its new operating system, IOS 6, may come back to haunt it for years to come. The new mapping module known as Apple maps has been met with consumers disappointment and competitor’s derision. The reason being is that Apple’s maps are not as good as Google’s. The new maps lack a lot of details especially outside the United States were many major cities are virtually left blank while several major landmarks are labeled inaccurately or marked in the wrong place. Even Apple’s highly touted 3-D feature is out of sync; it displays distorted images buildings and roads as if they came out of a bad sci-fi movie.
Many customers complain about Apple’s decision to remove mentions of public transportation routes or stations from its new map service which is a popular feature on the Google system and which allow users to see bus and train schedules at individual stations. Ironically the system is so bad that it wasn’t even able to pinpoint on Apple store in Sydney Australia which it placed on the wrong side of the road.
To be fair, building maps is extremely tedious task, there is only a small number of mapping data providers in the world, and they have been gathering their information for years. Apple began working on the IOS 6 maps nearly 5 years ago just about the time when Android hit the market. Apparently Apple has decided that to distance itself from Google then and to do so they had to buy smaller mapping companies and put together maps from several vendors. For example, Apple is using TomTom data in the US but other services abroad. That is why many foreign places are either not even on the map or are totally displaced. If you type London in the search bar it will direct you to a London, Ontario a not the London UK. Many users around the world complain about the maps’ inaccuracies or its complete lack of information.
On the brighter note Apple’s maps do not feature the ever annoying advertisements and listings which Google maps are replete with. In many larger cities around the world it does have turn by turn navigation which is quite accurate. Of course, the app will improve with time as users send in information and the developers work further on it. But how long will the consumers want to wait?
In addition to ditching Google’s maps, Apple has also decided to scrap another very popular Google application and that is YouTube.
What do you think of Apple’s decision and will it affect your decision next time you buy a smarthone?

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