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PSA: new Apple Maps

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sigurros81 said:
It's called proper programming. The question of people's stupidity is besides the point, it's about the quality of service from a product people paid for. Dumbass.
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How about you try again with a point that actually makes sense, you fucking cock gobbler. The issue at hand has nothing to do with proper programming.

Dial it back. This is about an app for goodness sake, not about someone who burned your ranch, shot your dog, and stole your Bible!

admin allisolm
 
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mmntech said:
Mapping isn't just drawing some lines and calling it a day. There's a lot of back end GIS data that goes into making them functional and accurate. Which is ultimately the problem with Apple Maps. Google has spent the last eight years creating their mapping program, and have been very meticulous about it. Primarily because Google is first and foremost a search company. As a result, Google Maps is the best and most accurate map product available to consumers.

Apple is first and foremost a hardware design company. They don't have any experience in mapping and search and they're basically starting from scratch. What they've come up with is okay but far from perfect. It will be a very long time before it is perfect, if it ever does. Unfortunately Apple has escalated their war with Google to the detriment of their users, by offering an inferior product. Hopefully Google develops their own proper apps map to replace it.
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I've been on iOS 6 beta for a while and only used the new Maps a little bit. The only problem I had was that it couldn't find a hospital that had just been built in my city. Really, it was only operating for a few days at that point. Maps need constant updating, so that's 100% understandable.

Some of these "examples" are laughable that people think they've found problems. I don't doubt that there are lots of map errors (as with any mapping service). I haven't seen the examples yet.

Google Maps has crazy problems ALL THE F*CKING TIME. I submit corrections all the time. Sometimes they're fixed, but often they are not.
 
mmntech said:
Mapping isn't just drawing some lines and calling it a day. There's a lot of back end GIS data that goes into making them functional and accurate. Which is ultimately the problem with Apple Maps. Google has spent the last eight years creating their mapping program, and have been very meticulous about it. Primarily because Google is first and foremost a search company. As a result, Google Maps is the best and most accurate map product available to consumers.

Apple is first and foremost a hardware design company. They don't have any experience in mapping and search and they're basically starting from scratch. What they've come up with is okay but far from perfect. It will be a very long time before it is perfect, if it ever does. Unfortunately Apple has escalated their war with Google to the detriment of their users, by offering an inferior product. Hopefully Google develops their own proper apps map to replace it.
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While it's their first attempt, Apple has been working on this for 5 years. Since 2007. They bought 2 mapping companies and are using TomTom data along with theirs. That's pretty long time.
 
ponyo said:
While it's their first attempt, Apple has been working on this for 5 years. Since 2007. They bought 2 mapping companies and are using TomTom data along with theirs. That's pretty long time.
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you have no idea how much work it is to correct geospatial data.
 
Google moves Buck Palace

images
 
Capt Caveman said:
See above. After how many years, Google maps still hasn't got it right.
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You know, Google Maps and iOS 6 Maps tries to direct you to a point that you can reach by car (by default). You shouldn't expect it to put a waypoint directly on the monument in the middle of the grass and pedestrian walkways.

For instance, when I put in an address in Google Maps, it often positions the arrow approximately where it thinks that number would be along the road. It can only attempt this if the database shows which end the numbering starts at. If Google's database doesn't know where the numbers start and end, the waypoint is directly in the middle of the road (length-wise).
 
Ichinisan said:
You know, Google Maps and iOS 6 Maps tries to direct you to a point that you can reach by car (by default). You shouldn't expect it to put a waypoint directly on the monument in the middle of the grass and pedestrian walkways.

For instance, when I put in an address in Google Maps, it often positions the arrow approximately where it thinks that number would be along the road. It can only attempt this if the database shows which end the numbering starts at. If Google's database doesn't know where the numbers start and end, the waypoint is directly in the middle of the road (length-wise).
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Well, that doesn't explain why Google positioned Buckingham Palace so far away from where it is actually located.
 
I still don't understand what people are expecting. Nearly ALL locations in Google Maps are simply approximate.

I can look at any back-woods area of my town in Google Maps and see it littered with icons for gas stations, ATMs, and restaurants...even in the middle of residential areas and even areas that are still wooded.
 
Interesting couple of articles on the subject below.

Key point:
One big reason: Google has 1,100 full time employees and 6,000 contractors working on its mapping products. Those 7,000 people do all sorts of granular work.

...

Excluding its retail army, Apple only has 13,000 employees in total.
Is it really ready to increase that number by 53%?
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Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/to-d...have-to-hire-7000-people-2012-6#ixzz277GIpX4P

http://www.businessinsider.com/to-d...s-apple-would-have-to-hire-7000-people-2012-6

http://www.sfgate.com/technology/bu...-000-Fewer-People-Working-On-Maps-3883235.php
 
Capt Caveman said:
Well, that doesn't explain why Google positioned Buckingham Palace so far away from where it is actually located.
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Yeah...that's just the kind of screwy thing I find all the time on GMaps. Don't know why people are harder on iOS maps. It probably has a LOT less "bad data" at this point.
 
rcpratt said:
How about you try again with a point that actually makes sense, you fucking cock gobbler. The issue at hand has nothing to do with proper programming.
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Yo cumdumpster, so a product that is buggy as hell has to do with what then? DUMBASS.

You, too. Dial it back. This is about an app for goodness sake, not about someone who burned your ranch, shot your dog, and stole your Bible!

admin allisolm
 
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ponyo said:
While it's their first attempt, Apple has been working on this for 5 years. Since 2007. They bought 2 mapping companies and are using TomTom data along with theirs. That's pretty long time.
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I don't think you appreciate how much work is required to make good maps. I work for a small firm that does primarily GIS work. I suggest you read the following article about Google's Maps team: http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...it-means-for-the-future-of-everything/261913/

Let me point out one thing in particular:
In keeping with Google's more-data-is-better-data mantra, the maps team, largely driven by Street View, is publishing more imagery data every two weeks than Google possessed total in 2006.
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sdifox said:
you have no idea how much work it is to correct geospatial data.
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Google does, and that's why their maps are far superior to everyone else's. It seems like Apple took the mindset of, "Let's buy up a few companies and make the maps look pretty on a phone; it'll be fine."
 
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rcpratt said:
Seriously, people are complaining about "London" returning London, Ontario, rather than London, England? Well guess what, you morons, if you want to search for the London NOT in this continent, how about you learn how to refine your fucking searches.
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Searching for Portland gave me Oregon instead of Maine. Which.... is what I wanted. 🙂
 
The difference is that Apple markets the user experience. It's supposed to just work. They promise that on stage when they're doing the slideshow of the shiny new device and its capabilities. Google does no such thing and has no such reputation. You pay a premium for the Apple device, and you expect a premium experience - they missed the mark this time. Will it matter? Probably not.

I'm not a fan or hater of either Google or Apple. I own both Android and iOS/OSX devices, and in some way, am long both their stocks.
 
1) What do you expect when you search for a city with no country name? If you want to find London, England, then fucking put London, England in the search.

2) Why would you expect the Washington Monument pin to be located directly on top of the monument? You can't fucking drive right up to it. The mapping service is giving you DRIVING DIRECTIONS.

3) I hate apple and will continue to use google maps, but your points are stupid.
 
I don't think the mapping errors are as egregious as people are acting. However, I think the real thing lacking is transit directions. If you live in a city, they are a must have. That will definitely drive people to 3rd party apps, or worse. A friend of mine just canceled his pre-order because he just moved to a new city and relies on transit/doesn't know the system, so it's a must have for him.
 
Capt Caveman said:
Why b/c you're expected to swim across the Atlantic Ocean like Google?

80558164.jpg
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You're like that monkey that will not let go of that shiny bauble.

Let me explain it to you, sorry I left my finger puppets at home. If you know anything about developing software or apps, you probably know that the first and most important rule is to make sure the product work as intended, like someone said, the user experience. If I search for London and I'm sitting in the middle of America, how does the software know what I'm looking for exactly?

My kid likes to type in random places in Maps to learn where they are, a sort of educational tool, so giving wrong or limited geographical data will confuse the end user. The simplest solution to give multiple results and asking which London you're looking for.

But you're too fucking stupid to realize that the software is incomplete and sloppy. That or you're one of those jackass apple fanboys.
 
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