This is the worlds most valuable company with billions of dollars in the bank. You spend some of that money to make sure that things work. They aren't a start-up, and they have a very real brand to protect. That's the thing, this debacle was the very first time that devout Apple users en-masse looked at Android and went "Android does maps flat out better".
That's going to have real long-term consequences I'm not sure Apple even understands yet. For instance look at how quickly the tech crowd embraced Google now on the iPhone? The hole in Apple's armor makes it easier for people to accept that other things are also better. These things really can snowball, and when you're protecting a luxury brand that's a really serious issue.
You simply can't screw up what might be the most universally used feature (maps) on the entire phone. It's the one thing, next to maybe the dialer and messaging, that people interact with more than anything else. Screwing that up makes all of your polish, usability, and "coolness" irrelevant. Instead of arrogantly shoving crap out the door and expecting everyone to love it just because, maybe that's the time to invest that money and do the quality control you have to do to make it work. Hire 10,000 people to drive all over the world making sure you got it right. Google does something close to that (those Google maps cars improve the accuracy of their data ten-fold), and if you want to compete you should too.
Now you have to put the genie back in the bottle and hope the damage isn't long-lasting. It's probably going to be even more expensive and I'm not sure you can.
I'm not really sure what damage you're talking about, aside from posts from random people online badmouthing Maps. iPhone and iPad sales are still strong. Maps have gotten significantly better in just a few months (although I never saw a problem with it myself.) Everyone seems happy aside from people driving into an Australian desert they've never been to with no supplies— oh, and folks who need transit directions.
You can't expect any company to hire 10,000 people to work N amount of hours/day/years just so you can polish your app 5% more when that same polish can come from users submitting error reports. That's just nonsense.
Everyone seems happy aside from people driving into an Australian desert they've never been to with no supplies— oh, and folks who need transit directions.
Just to clarify, these people weren't driving into the desert, just into a town. The GPS took them 70 kilometres away and left them in a position unable to find a way out.
Anecdotal I know, but I have a chum - a big, big Apple fan - who has so far refused to upgrade to iOS 6 because of the maps issues. He also expected to buy the iPhone 5, but when it arrived it just didn't seem worth it. He's even given my SGS III appreciative looks. All this stuff is cumulative. Apple sales won't collapse overnight, but it is eating away at goodwill.
I'm in exactly that boat. I was planning on buying the iPhone 5 but when I heard about the maps problem it stopped me cold. I depend on Google Maps now for a lot of things like finding metro stops not to mention that I also use it when traveling abroad.
I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering going the Android route, especially since I think Google's OS and services are improving much more rapidly than Apple's.
Everyone I've spoken with an iPhone to has had problems with Apple's maps and wishes they would put Google's maps back in. Most of Britain is affected in one way or another, even just to the point of missing a lot of detail that we previously took for granted.
That's going to have real long-term consequences I'm not sure Apple even understands yet. For instance look at how quickly the tech crowd embraced Google now on the iPhone? The hole in Apple's armor makes it easier for people to accept that other things are also better. These things really can snowball, and when you're protecting a luxury brand that's a really serious issue.
You simply can't screw up what might be the most universally used feature (maps) on the entire phone. It's the one thing, next to maybe the dialer and messaging, that people interact with more than anything else. Screwing that up makes all of your polish, usability, and "coolness" irrelevant. Instead of arrogantly shoving crap out the door and expecting everyone to love it just because, maybe that's the time to invest that money and do the quality control you have to do to make it work. Hire 10,000 people to drive all over the world making sure you got it right. Google does something close to that (those Google maps cars improve the accuracy of their data ten-fold), and if you want to compete you should too.
Now you have to put the genie back in the bottle and hope the damage isn't long-lasting. It's probably going to be even more expensive and I'm not sure you can.