Today, on Twitter, I came across a German word "verschlimmbesserung". It's rough translation is something along the lines of "improvements that make things worse".
Seems oddly apt! 😀
Seems oddly apt! 😀
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Apple Issues Statement Over Day 1 'Maps' Glitches, Maps Team Reportedly Under Lockdown to Fix Issues
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Of course there is, let's separate the issues here, bug ridden and feature complete are different. As I recall apple have acquired several mapping companies, and using separate mapping services like tom tom and OpenStreetMap. What is the cause of the bugs and how can they be fixed? An answer to those questions without actually working on the problem is based on guessing, if not what?
Elven
macrumors 6502a
Put the coffee machine in a maze, and make them use the current iOS6 maps to find their way.
GoCubsGo
macrumors Nehalem
I am sure they did. They also send things like this out to devs but my guess is there are more people getting the beta builds of the OS and just playing with them (who aren't devs) than there are devs. They do nothing for development when they steal or buy the software before it is released.
That would be terrifying. Imagine Apple Maps telling you that there is a lake, or a 10 mile drop in front of you that you can't see. And invisible dragons.
Elven
macrumors 6502a
KnightWRX
macrumors Pentium
Sure it's guess work. So what ? Absent any information, guess work is all we can rely on.
They still don't have access to the volume of data available to Google and I doubt they every will. Google's core business activity is data mining.
Will be interesting to see if Apple approve a Google Maps app it could be very awkward for them if they don't.
KnightWRX
macrumors Pentium
Non devs playing with the DPs changes nothing as far as testing/debugging/Q&A from actual devs and Apple's staff goes.
Again guys, we've known about the issues and the "downgrade" since the first DP. We've also seen how much has improved and how much of the reported problems have gone unfixed over the course of the last 3-4 months.
Why does everybody have blind faith that Apple fix this quickly?
The Maps fiasco is very similar to their Podcast app fiasco....just on a much broader scale. Despite having Podcasts in the Music App since Day 1 and plenty of 3rd party apps (Downcast) who did it right, Apple released a half baked bug filled debacle. The only upside is there was still the third party apps to go to.
Bring back Google Maps!
The Maps fiasco is very similar to their Podcast app fiasco....just on a much broader scale. Despite having Podcasts in the Music App since Day 1 and plenty of 3rd party apps (Downcast) who did it right, Apple released a half baked bug filled debacle. The only upside is there was still the third party apps to go to.
Bring back Google Maps!
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KnightWRX
macrumors Pentium
Actually, isn't it the other way around ? I'd be much less scared of Apple maps telling me there's a 10 mile drop where there isn't one than Apple maps failing to mention that little tidbit as it tells me "ahead, 100m" when there's only 75m left before said drop. 😉
nick_elt
macrumors 68000
Ive been with apple for a good 8 years now. Im not brainwashed. Im pissed off!
Well, OpenStreetMap for an example is crowd sourced, that alone should tell you that at some point it will, add separate data sources like tom tom and yelp and coordinate them. But, in my opinion the most critical thing to get fixed is bugs.
Which isn't reliable, that was my only point.
Apple shouldn't have launched this until they had a solid lock on current or very nearly current map data and imagery. Yes, that's a big job. Yes, that's why Google put so much effort and money into it -- they did it right, and often had to do it themselves to get it right.
What Apple has instead done is cobble together pieces from various sources, leading to a hodgepodge of pixelated or low-res, or black & white images intermixed with relatively decent, current color and high-resolution imagery. Their actual street data is lacking, too.
To say this is "beta" or "crowd sourced" is putting a bandaid on the problem to save face. This feature was not ready for primetime.
What Apple has instead done is cobble together pieces from various sources, leading to a hodgepodge of pixelated or low-res, or black & white images intermixed with relatively decent, current color and high-resolution imagery. Their actual street data is lacking, too.
To say this is "beta" or "crowd sourced" is putting a bandaid on the problem to save face. This feature was not ready for primetime.
Beta? From the data standpoint it's not even alpha, and that is no exaggeration.
Me too. But for now it's a pretty terrible user experience.
OT, but I still can't seem to get Siri on my iPad2 either.
The situation will be awkward no matter what. If the don't approve the app, people will be left with a unusable maps app until they fix it. If they approve it, it's going to be a bit weird not only because they've ditched Google Maps before but also because probably Google Maps will be a lot more reliable service than their own app.
KnightWRX
macrumors Pentium
We're discussing here. It's not like anyone is under the gun to provide a working solution except Apple. So what does reliability of our discussion have to do with anything ?
As developers (speaking for myself), it's fun trying to figure out how the bugs could be happening and where they are located. Thinking in terms of how the programmer might have implemented a feature and what conditions could trigger this bug, etc..
If you've ever written software (and seeing how you like to argue in the programming forums even when you're wrong, you might have...) you know these are fun exercises. It also makes for nice discussion.
Plus, if Apple do reject Google Map, it would likely put Apple in DOJ's scope. I'm sure it is something Apple don't want, as big as Apple is, DOJ would crush them like a bug (Look at what they did to Microsoft 10 years ago).
It does if forecasts about time schedules are proposed, and it's not clear that it's based on speculation. View what I said as a side note commentary, move along etc.
Lol, that's precious. You are always right in the programming forum! Even when you are allocating 5 bytes of memory to save space. 🙂
It's more than blind, it's stupid.
They're literally going to have to start again in the UK. The POI data is junk.
That's going to take at least 4 years to get it anywhere even close to usable.
There's definitely a difference between a Service Provider (Google) and a Hardware Provider with some service offerings (Apple).
Google inherently wants to target many markets and hardware platforms... Web (targeting desktops... PC, Mac, Linux, etc.) and Mobile (iOS, Android, and probably Windows Phone).
Apple... doesn't often go beyond OSX and iOS. That they have iTunes and some offerings for Windows is noteworthy... and that's because iTunes and iCloud made a quick leap to becoming a Service, with the former being a revenue generator.
I doubt we'll ever see a web-based Apple Maps. And because of that, they may never put the effort into it that Google has.