Apple maps was the excuse for his shafting. He was a potential career threat to other execs wanting to climb the greasy pole, and the supply chain guru at the top of the pole who grasped forstall had the vision thing. He had to go.
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Apple Maps Vehicles Reach 45 States, Revamped Data to Roll Out Across U.S. Over the Next Year
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I think that's because even Apple doesn't want to be in Florida hahahaha
Yeah, that’s objectively false. Apple’s board and Steve Jobs himself groomed Cook to lead Apple, knowing full well that Jobs would likely die young. As such, as a SVP, Forstall was never positioned to go any higher than he did.
Nonetheless, Apple Maps was the most public and humiliating failure of Apple in many years. Forstall was the one who very publicly expounded on its quality on stage not once but twice. Either he was blinded by his own hubris, or he was knowingly lying, because Maps was a disaster at launch. Regardless, because of that, Apple needed an executive response, and an opportunity was given to Forstall to sign an open letter apologizing to customers. Forstall refused to do that, making Tim Cook do it instead, and he lost his job as a consequence.
Also, if Scott Forstall was such a visionary, please do tell exactly how, in your estimation, iOS would be different today. Design doesn’t count—the wheels had almost certainly been rolling on iOS 7’s design since before Forstall’s departure in no small part because it wasn’t really his call.
They have mapping of all 50 states, and lots of the world -- but they've been buying map data from other providers and folding into their own product, with mixed results.
The thing that's new is that they're now gathering very high quality data first-hand with their own vehicles -- and they're augmenting that with anonymized location data from users who have opted in to the program.
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Funny, I don't use Apple Maps for nothing but long-distance travel.
Driving directions in my country are so much better than Google's.
Thanks for this, interesting comparison. Especially when you compare it to satellite imagery.
What does that even mean? Example please.
I've done that drive many times with Apple Maps...its not complicated enough to have me "drive in circles" since there's only one road to take (for the most part).
Yes, I understand that. I thought it was obvious from the article context but for clarity I'll restate: Apple isn't even mapping all contiguous 48 states THEMSELVES yet?!?
They started collecting their own map data YEARS ago. We're beyond the testing stage so buy more vehicles and hire more drivers Apple. I see no reason why they seem to have 2020 as a target for complete better map data in the States and even later elsewhere.
That’s not true though...they’ve got the most difficult areas where roads are changing constantly and where traffic/construction are huge factors. Alaska is not one of those areas. It’s not like they still have to do CA or Chicago or NYC.
And they are already mapping the UK and other countries...it says so right on their own website.
Yes, it's the I-10, and that would have been a no-brainer, although I plugged in a friend's address in Mesa, and Apple Maps routed me around Davis Moffet Air Field. I was leaving the S.E. area of Tucson, so I figured AppleMap's was providing a short-cut to avoid the N. I-10 construction zone. Eventually, Apple Maps re-routed me back onto the 10' with a series of turns and a U-turn. No, I didn't need to use any map service to drive from Tucson to Mesa, but I occasionally test Google and Apple Maps, to see how they both handle a particular routing.
I do that as well...and I think the same thing may have happened to me yesterday on the way to the airport in Minneapolis.
I think I was paying attention and didn't screw up, but AM had me exit for the airport an exit too soon and then do a U-turn at the end of the offramp to get back on the highway...I swear I didn't screw up...hah...
The only thing I can think of is that traffic data made the earlier exit a better route and then it changed while I was exiting making the highway the faster route again. Maybe...
Well East coast / West coast elitism aside, you obviously don't know what 'contiguous' means as it does not include Alaska. Take instead Tennessee, which is in the continuous US, contains difficult roads, and a portion of the busiest interstate in the country (I-75).
You also don't seem to understand that the website list is of states that Apple has STARTED mapping not finished. So I stand behind the statement that it is ridiculous that one of the largest companies in the world with billions in the bank can't spring for at least 1 mapping vehicle per state. Roads are always changing everywhere not just CA or NY.
I'm perfectly aware of what it means...but if you think for a second that not mapping Tennessee with their own vans when they launch is seriously going to affect the experience of Maps significantly, I think you are wrong. The change will be seamless starting in September for nearly everyone across the country, just a more "enhanced experience for those in Northern CA and wherever else they choose to add. Just as difficult as it was for Apple to make the layers of maps, navigation, traffic, poi's, etc. work NOW, it will still be difficult to change those to their own dataset moving forward. I don't blame them for focusing serious effort where they feel it will count the most and simply adding the other areas later...and probably very quickly.
So I guess what I'm saying is that it won't be any worse, but it will be better where it counts most at first (elitism aside...it's just a fact based on percentage of iPhone users) and it will only get better very quickly once those areas have been tested and proven it can work as planned.
EDIT...oh...and I drive through Tennessee multiple times a year (usually I-65), and not that I-75 an I-65 aren't busy interstates, they pale in comparison to other much more complicated and changing arteries in the US...even from a traffic standpoint (which is already handled by Maps today). I think anyone can see, and even articles on here have stated as much, the Apple Maps vans, while driving around for three years, have only REALLY been out in force the past 6-9 months as they have figured out how to build the map program properly. The rate of coverage should be exponential now, so it would be foolish to think that even with all of their resources, the rate of mapping would be the same as it was three years ago. When they start Tennessee, it will probably be covered in no time.
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