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New Maps App

With the recent releases of their iOS 6 and the iPhone 5, Apple has been especially busy as of late.  One of the new features of iOS 6 and standard on the iPhone 5 is the completely redesigned Maps application.  Designed by Apple “from the  ground up”, the new Maps uses data from TomTom rather than Google, Apple’s previous data provider.  Such a move is controversial to say the least.  Since its debut in 2005, Google Maps has been continuously compiling data to smooth out any and all kinks in its software and cement itself as the world leader in mapping data.  According to the David Pogue of the New York Times, the split between Apple and Google stemmed from Google “saving all of its best features for phones than run its Android software.”  Now, Apple has stubbornly gone about creating their own Maps application that looks comparatively primitive to Google’s polished version.  With this “new” version of maps, it wouldn’t be farfetched to say that Apple has retrogressed in this particular case.  Known throughout the world as a leader in innovation, Apple has been and will continue to face criticism for its recent bungle.  Apple, however, is reportedly dedicated to augmenting its Maps app in any way it can and is certainly not denying that problems exist.  Such improvement will come from creating a more extensive and comprehensive database as well as taking into account customer feedback.  In other words, the process will not be a quick one.  Apple needs to make sure it maintains the trust and loyalty of its customers as it bounces back from this minor setback, or they might see their customers begin to cross over to the proverbial dark side–Android phones.

This article is relevant to many of the topics we have covered thus far in class.  The Maps application is built from and relies on an up-to-date database of the world’s roadways as well as traffic patterns to assist in route guidance and navigation.  Roadways and traffic patterns are at the core of what we are studying this year, with roads essentially being glorified edges connecting towns (nodes) to one another.    Also, we can look at the relationship between Apple and Google through a networks-oriented lens.  The recent feuding between Apple and Google can be characterized as a negative relationship (-); the relationship between Apple and TomTom would be a positive relationship (+) given their recent collaboration, and the relationship between Google and TomTom would most likely be a negative one (-) as they are competitors in the GPS/mapping data industry.  This (+, +, -) relationship is, by definition, unbalanced.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/technology/personaltech/apples-new-maps-app-is-upgraded-but-full-of-snags-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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