Hasta La Gadget!

Well, it’s hardly a secret that customers are unhappy with Apple’s new mapping solution in iOS 6. And, while the company has admitted that, perhaps, it’s not quite up to snuff yet, it has played down Maps’ flaws and urged customers to be patient. Today, in an open letter to the Apple faithful, Tim Cook struck a far more candid and conciliatory tone, apologizing for failing to deliver a “world-class” product. Cook went so far as to suggest that unhappy customers could check out offerings from competitors like Bing, MapQuest, Google and Nokia — at least until Cupertino sorts this mess out. You’ll find the complete text of the letter after the break.

Update: As CNET reports, Apple has now also gone one step further and added a new list of featured mapping alternatives to the App Store, including apps from TeleNav, Garmin, Magellan and others.

You can read our editorial on Apple apologies since the launch of the iPhone here.

Continue reading Tim Cook apologizes for Maps mess

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple

Tim Cook apologizes for Maps mess originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Business Insider  |  Apple  | Email this | Comments

Apple maps is unreliable, half-baked, and down right frustrating. But how does it actually stack up against the competition in real life? Reuters pits Apple’s solution up against Google Maps in a head-to-head race on the ground in Hong Kong, and the results probably won’t surprise you. More »

You know how most people who’ve used Google Maps and Apple Maps realize that Apple Maps is inexcusably bad and most definitely inferior? Yeah, these are not those people. These people don’t give a crap what you think. That’s right: even Apple Maps has fanboys. More »

Some people willingly overpay for half-baked features in obscure gadgets. These are the early adopters of the world, and they know full well that the things they buy will not work perfectly. Hiccups and glitches are just part of the contract, the accepted trade-off for being first. More »

Why did Apple kill Google Maps from iOS and make its own maps? The logical thinking was some combination of getting Google off iOS and Apple and Google’s Google Maps contract agreement being over. That’s only half true. Apple still could’ve used Google maps for another year under their current agreement, Apple just decided to blindside Google by going in its own direction. More »