Madison Square Garden is a park, highways end in no-man’s-land and the world looks like it has just endured a doomsday assault, with bridges and other structures appearing destroyed. This is Earth according to Apple Maps.
 Source: CNet |
| You wouldn’t want to take that bridge home |
The software replaces Google’s veteran mapping system as part of Apple’s new software for its iPhones, iPads and iPods, and although it has been available to the public for a mere 24 hours, the floodgates have opened with mapping incongruities.
“It’s a complete failure,” said Jeffrey Jorgensen to AP Technology, a software developer who has been privy to maps for a month now.
“It’s slower, its directions are poorer and its location data doesn’t seem to be accurate. All around, it’s not quite there yet.”
To get around, Jorgenson continues to use Google’s mapping system on his wife’s Android smartphone.
Apple’s Maps seems to be categorising landscapes by their name. As an example, it identifies Madison Square Garden, an arena in New York, as a Park because its name contains the word ‘Garden.’ Ironically, it marks Airfield Gardens, which is a farm and plant nursery in Dublin, as an Airfield because of its first name.
Whereas Maps is Apple’s first generation mapping software, Google has been including its own maps on Apple’s iPhone since 2007. However, the smartphone feuds between Android and iOS has seen Apple banish Google’s software from stock iPhones, including YouTube. Google released the following whimsical statement on Apple’s take of mapping.
“We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.”
CNet’s Charles Cooper believes Google has been handed the best “ad campaign ever” as side-by-side comparisons of the two mapping systems reveals theirs is far superior.
 The Cayman Islands according to Google Maps on iOS 5 and then Apple Maps on iOS 6. Source: Cnet |
Apple choosing to include its half-baked mapping software over Google’s familiar and functional maps is symbolic of the company putting its own needs ahead of its customers.
