Not long ago Apple was on a spree to eliminate Google completely from the iPhone and iPad, and replaced Google Maps with its own mapping service. News and experience proves that this step was a blunder. Unhappy customers bombarded internet forums with their dissatisfaction and called the move stupid. The Maps app by Apple is known to disappoint a lot of times, both in the iPhone and the iPad. Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized to their customer population about their Maps app. He was sorry that Apple had compromised on its standards in a bid to erase competition.
Apple encouraged its customers to download other mapping apps while Apple fixes its own. Obviously going back to Google is never an option. However customers think that Cook did a noble thing by apologizing, but they also expressed that they need functionality more than nobility.
Blogs all around the world are criticizing Apple over Maps but analysts think that it will affect the company in a very small way as Apple makes its money by selling gadgets and not by software. Twitter analysis after the release of iPhone 5 shows that Apple earned a 71% positive response while for 4S it was only 49% which proved to the analysts that customers are not really that concerned about the Maps issue. In any case, users who loved Google Maps can still access it through the browser.
The striking thing about the apology is the transition in the leadership. When an antennae problem arose with the iPhone 4S, Steve Jobs suggested to customers to just hold the phone differently which suggested a distinct arrogance and sarcasm. However he later admitted that, “We are not perfect and the phones aren’t perfect either.”
Cook denied the fact that booting out Google Maps was a rivalry move, instead he says, “Our aim is to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps.” In spite of the dissatisfaction messages being conveyed by various users, some analyst praise Cook and say that Apple has been providing quality devices and they hope that this will continue in the time to come.
