Common Sense

Apple doesn’t deserve a pass on Maps because they’re “new” at it. They have years of data on geo. If it wasn’t as good, it shouldn’t ship.

— Steve Streza (@SteveStreza) September 20, 2012

You might think that it was necessary for Apple to ditch Google. But you’re *mad* if you think Apple handled that transition right.

— Graham S (@Greyham) September 20, 2012

iOS Maps story plays to the worst clichéd views of Apple: arrogant, US-centric, glossy sheen over shoddy tech. This story will have legs.

— Richard Gaywood (@PenLlawen) September 20, 2012

@counternotions I totally agree, but this isn’t about starting - it’s a downgrade for all 400m+ previous customers upgrading from iOS 5.

— Alexander Repty (@arepty) September 21, 2012

I’ve seen a few comments out there to the effect that actually people should remember this is the first release, that mapping is hard, that it’s not their fault Google wouldn’t give them maps, and therefore Apple should be cut some slack. To my mind, this is nonsense. It’s effectively grading Apple on a curve, giving them a pass to create something sub-standard because doing good maps is really tough.

• One more thing about iOS 6 Maps, Ian Betteridge
  

  To my mind, Flyover isn’t anywhere near a straight switch for Street View, and the worrying thing is that Apple probably won’t create something like Google’s solution. Right now, Flyover is merely an amusing toy for armchair tourism of select cities. It’s of little or no practical benefit, and it’s of no use whatsoever in finding your way to anywhere remotely obscure (unlike Google Maps, where you can see what a junction to a road in the middle of nowhere looks like, along with any helpfully odd-looking trees in the vicinity). Any pundits somehow suggesting otherwise either don’t use Maps that often for this kind of navigation or really need to share their helicopters with the rest of us.

• Finding your way in iOS 5 Street View and iOS 6 Maps Flyover, with pictures!, Craig Grannell
  

  Apple made this maps change despite its shortcomings because they put their own priorities for corporate strategy ahead of user experience. That’s a huge change for Apple in the post-iPod era, where they’ve built so much of their value by doing the hard work as a company so that things could be easy for users. I’m not suggesting (yet) that this is a pattern, and that Apple will start to regularly compromise its user experiences in order to focus on its squabbles with other tech titans. But history shows that dominant players in every era of operating system history have reached a turning point where they shift from the user experience and customer benefits which earned them their dominance to platform integration efforts which are primarily aimed at boxing out competitors. It’ll be interesting to see which direction Apple’s maps follow.

• Who benefits from iOS 6’s crappy Maps?, Anil Dash
  

We will “survive this one”, too. Because, fortunately, some people get it.

And because Apple is smart enough to say they screwed up, apologize, then go back to work.

Enough with the witty excuses no one cares about?