
How Google was "skyhooked" by Apple's new iOS 6 Maps - evo_9
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/26/how-google-was-skyhooked-by-apples-new-ios-6-maps
======
notlisted
The writer is an abject moron.

The previous maps app was coded by Apple, but used data licensed from Google.
Without that data, maps are worthless. It will take Apple _years_ to get to a
level resembling the quality of the Google maps. I'm referring to the POIs,
accuracy, maintenance, etc etc.

Anyone thinking otherwise knows nothing about the complexity of mapping and
routing (I do: used to work for a company that licensed data to Google maps,
and marketed the first trip planners in Europe -- no, not TomTom).

This was a gift from the Gods for Google. I betcha it would take Google no
more than a month or two to code their own app if they had to start today,
which they wouldn't have to, the switch wasnt a secret, and another 6 months
to have it approved by the Apple gatekeepers.

However, why would Google do this? The google maps web version covers most
immediate needs (great search results, good routing) and as announced, they
anticipate adding a web version of street view shortly. This is pure WIN for
google. Loads of goodwill for saving the day, loads of crappy Apple apps with
Apple maps, and they'll have Q4 to look forward to with many many additional
activations of Android (S3, Note II, etc.) so who's in a rush?

Meanwhile, I rue the day I upgraded to IOS6. Siri is sucky. Tethered WiFi
connections have issues. All apps that use the standard "maps" component are
ruined...

I also see class action lawsuits and EU rulings in Apple's future... for
failure to provide an option to revert to IOS5, rendering old hardware less
useful and ruining apps, and locking in the user base to sub-par solutions
because of their monopolisitc control. Remember Microsoft and IE? History will
repeat itself. It always does.

------
cleverjake
>>>Additionally, all the work to produce a new Goggle Maps Navigation+Earth
for iOS would need to be paid for by ads (just like Google's free Chrome
browser or YouTube app for iOS), because few iOS users would be likely to pay
anything substantial to replace Apple's own Maps with Google's version. In
contrast, Apple's software development is funded through profitable hardware
sales.

Now this is just goofy. Google doesn't have ads in chrome. It is a loss leader
used to propel web related research forward. Youtube does have ads, but mostly
to cover bandwidth costs, and has never turned a profit. Google could easily
release an app without any form of profit just to retain user share.

~~~
spullara
Google has lots of ads in Chrome. They are on their search page and are
displayed almost any time you type into the location bar.

------
thingummywut
"However, Apple's surprise announcement left Google with no recourse but to
heap complaints upon Apple's new Maps while having nothing to offer as an
alternative apart from its own limited web app. "

Wait... So Apple's Maps is actually wonderful, and all complaints are actually
by Google? It's not since the new Maps app provides a subpar experience to the
old Google-powered Maps app?

------
kalleboo
> Google faced the task of not just porting its existing Android Maps version
> to iOS, but improving upon its features and appearance to match Apple's own
> version. That would logically include matching the 3D features of Flyover

Does anyone really care about Flyover, aside from a neat first-time demo? How
can you say "Google will have to put in an alternative to Flyover" without
thinking the same thing about Apple and Street View?

I'm also laughing at the part where he spins Apple's lack of Transit as a
plus.

~~~
snogglethorpe
> _I'm also laughing at the part where he spins Apple's lack of Transit as a
> plus._

What does he say...?

[No way I'm giving him a page-hit...]

------
MichaelGG
...From Tim Cook's letter, I'd say that Google showing up with a nice maps app
would be quite a boon to Apple right now. This article seems to not match
reality.

~~~
wamatt
_"This article seems to not match reality."_

Perhaps, but personally the article felt authentic to me.

Maybe something to do with the number of specific new details revealed in this
ongoing IOS6 maps debacle.

------
css771
What the hell.. junk like appleinsider is making the front page of HN now?

------
peloton
>>> Apple's surprise decision to launch its own Maps service in iOS 6 caught
Google off guard

Google had early warning when they saw Apple acquiring several maps companies
over the years:

[http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/29/apple-acquired-mind-
blowing-3d...](http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/29/apple-acquired-mind-
blowing-3d-mapping-company-c3-technologies-looking-to-take-ios-maps-to-the-
next-level/)

------
macchina
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance>

------
surrealize
The Reality Distortion Field lives on!

~~~
bonzoesc
Daniel Eran Dilger is a pretty terrible writer and a huge Apple apologist. I
got about halfway through before I had to check the byline and confirm my
suspicions.

~~~
pooriaazimi
He is indeed an Apple apologist (I prefer the word "zealot" more), but he's
not a terrible writer (in general). He sometimes (a couple times a year)
writes insightful, technical, under-the-hood stuff in his blog, "roughly
drafted". That's why I visit his blog every quarter or so and skim the long
articles.

------
trhtrsh
First I learned about Google "Microsofting" Skyhook on the Location Servics
deals.

