Comment by Steko
12 years ago
Maps is a great example of the difference because, wait for it, Apple never wanted to be in the mapping business. People are comparing Apple and Google and forgetting that the two companies ambitions are completely different.
Google wants the full vampire squid platter. It wants to be your phone OS, your browser, your desktop OS, your search company, your video site, your social network, your office software solution, your maps solution, your knowledge resource, your ISP, etc.
Apple never wanted to make a browser. Apple had to make a browser because the vampire squid company that led the market in browsers gave them a shitty one and used it to malign one of Apple's biggest products.
Similarly, Apple never even wanted to be in the Maps business. Apple had to get in the maps business on relatively short notice because the vampire squid company that led the maps market gave them a shitty one and used it to malign one of Apple's biggest products.
You can't compare the browser situation however many years ago and the Maps calamity. Google's app was hardly a "shitty" alternative, but as others have indicated the Apple response is mostly due to other reasons. How many iOS users rejoiced when Google Maps got rereleased?
> Google's app
The pre-iOS6 app wasn't "Google's app".
It was Apple's Maps app which used Google-licensed data. Insofar as it was neglected, it was neglected because Apple neglected to improve it and declined to license additional uses of the data (like for turn-by-turn nav).
"Apple neglected to improve it and declined to license additional uses of the data (like for turn-by-turn nav)."
Or, translated from Google spin speak, Apple wanted to improve it but the two parties were not able to agree on terms.
http://allthingsd.com/20120926/apple-google-maps-talks-crash...
2 replies →
"You can't compare the browser situation however many years ago and the Maps calamity."
Actually I just did.
"Google's app was hardly a "shitty" alternative ... How many iOS users rejoiced when Google Maps got rereleased?"
'Rereleased' he says... you mean with turn-by-turn which was never there in the original app. Which is why the original was shitty compared to Maps for Android. QED.