It seems like firing people is now a way of solving problems at Apple. I can't recall too many high profile firings during Steve Jobs tenure (may be I am not digging far enough, but still). Wonder what that means.
That said, primary failure of new Apple maps is not in what it does, but what it does not do. As driving maps go, they are fine. They have their share of errors, but so do Google maps. In fact just yesterday Google maps insisted that a whole block of streets was open and available for me to drive through, whereas in reality they are permanently blocked or do not exist (caused me to waste a good 30 minutes finding my way out). Checked on iPod at home with Apple maps, and it actually had them correctly shown as blocked. That's one advantage of using TomTom data which draws on crowd-sourced user corrections - changes are actually noted sooner.
However, lack of public transportation directions is a major dealbreaker for me. Along with lack of untethered jailbreak (though I can live without the latter) it's the reason I am holding off on buying iPhone 5. I can adjust to most other applications and changes - but there is no substitute out there for general purpose, universal public transportation directions like Google has.
Piecemeal solution of loading individual apps for various areas does not work both because it's: - too much work to leave one app for another - does not let me see these directions along with driving (what if I want to quickly compare which one's faster) - Literally *all* of the 3rd party public transportation apps I tried (and that includes a number of major metropolitan areas in US) were complete and utter junk. They don't have to be, but then they'd have to basically become google maps:)
I also think at this point that Google is not going to be very forthcoming with their maps app for iOS6. I though differently before, since Google stands to lose quite a bit of tracking of Apple users. But now I happen to think they are ready to forgo this for a bigger prize. By withholding Google maps app they are able to slow adoption of iPhone 5 and other newer Apple hardware which is not available with older iOS. That's a direct hit at their competitor and they stand to gain some business that way (or other vendors of Android devices like Samsung, which still benefits Google). This way they make up lost tracking data and make more $$$ in the process.
So, my guess is - there may not be a Google maps app for iOS for a long time now. Time will tell.
What the hell? Is/. finally gone on Samsung payroll here? Srsly guys, try to at least *pretend* to report news. Also "anonymous" submitter? Is is email pr@samsung.com by any chance?
It's only a pilot program. As all things of the kind, their purpose is not only to test the process, but to acclimatize people to the new reality. In a little while new reality becomes "it's always been that way", and then they can move for wider application. And what better way to do so than to begin with school students. Why, you could then combine RFID databases between schools "for improved information sharing", then perhaps offer local malls, movie theaters etc. data for them to better gauge their audience or, better yet, "better protect children from inappropriate material" (oh, now we are talking). Then, as they grow up and graduate - why not join forces with a local college or university, public transportation, sports venues - you name it:) It's just a matter of time.
This type of tracking needs to be nipped in the bud, before it becomes the "new normal".
And btw, there is nothing reasonable about employees being tracked en-masse at office either. Technically, though, employees are there voluntarily and can leave at will. There is no such choice at school.
Since this is/., I am not quite sure how to react - perhaps someone will enlighten me?
Do we *like* the idea that a federal agency is taking online crime seriously and increasing its investigative efforts? Or do we decry even larger invasion of privacy by the lead-fisted government into private citizens lives? Assuming, of course, that any investigation of online crimes would have to at a very least get access to various online resources, logs and data, most likely not voluntarily shared by many parties who go to great lengths to be difficult to identify. You know what *that* means.
:) That's fine - uid is a good guide to/. longevity. As far as I recall, I resisted registering on/. until 1998/9 (seemed like a long time then:) ), been reading it virtually since day 1. Not that it matters here.
I am in the same boat wrt. to Apple use - I write cross-platform software (most Unices, Linux, Windows and Mac, and lately iOS too). Mac was first literally forced on my by work requirements about 5 years ago. Over time my personal use and even most development naturally shifted to Mac to the exclusion of others (I write Windows software in VMWare box on my Mac now:) ). "It's the worst system there is except for all the others".
To the topic - I think rationalization of hate may come in different forms. But that's all it is - it's a way for people who hate someone/something to bring quasi-logical explanation to their feelings. Hate by its very nature is not based on reason. I think on a most basic level it's simple - Apple is extremely successful and widely used now, just as Microsoft was back then. That's pretty much sufficient.
Personally, I can't hate Apple for that - they got where they are by building products that people like and use (including those, who like myself may not agree with their principles etc). There is nothing unfair about that, they won because they are good. It may pass as well - but for now this is it. Incidentally, this is where they are unlike M$, but that's beside the point.
Apple is what M$ was 10 years ago for/. current demographics - Evil Satan that can do no right.
As someone who has been on/. longer than that (and around technology of any kind even longer) - all I can say is "this too shall pass".
In the meantime, I think Apple did the right thing. Take it on the personal level. Let's say you feel someone wronged you. You go to court, try to correct the wrong, and court decides against you and (in your opinion, adding insult to injury) requires you to apologize to the party that offended you. How do you feel? Can you offer an honest apology? Why would you? Regardless of whether you agree or don't agree Samsung copied Apple. For the record, while I am not a big fan of Apple policies, I *do* feel that most manufacturers, including Samsung, are copying them. In these things the devil is in the details, and *imho* these details are what make Apple products convenient and others (Samsung) are convenient mostly as far as they follow these same details. Feel free to disagree.
And of course no discussion of British legal system and apologies is complete without this, which I find extremely pertinent: http://movieclips.com/CDHXP-a-fish-called-wanda-movie-upside-down-apology/ (Now you can tell how old I am:) Linking here because youtube is misbehaving at the moment)
Time and experience are what proves products to be (or not to be) successful.
XP is successful by all accounts - it is relatively stable, productive, makes sense (more or less). The way to move users to a new system is to provide something those users *actually want*, without taking away things they already have. Simple, as soon as Microsoft does that - we'll all switch, voluntarily, and may be even give them some ca$h.
Personally, I won't move simply because I can't be sure binaries I build on Windows 7 will work on XP (yes, they "should" but I don't really care to try). That and XP had the last control panel that had some logic to the way things were laid out and grouped.
One is a popular device with millions of users and thousands of software titles. Another is essentially vaporware. Let's wait till *each* proves itself in real world before making any other "comparisons".
Not everything written in an agreement will hold up in court, if/when tested. For example, you can't write an agreement that expressly violates laws. In particular, the purpose of class action suits is exactly to allow group action where individual "wrongs" are not large enough to prosecute, but combined are sufficiently big. Trying to circumvent the law the way PayPal is doing is by itself probably a good ground for a class action suit (but got to wait until some actual harm is done, afaik):)
Conveniently, they are building out a single universal high speed network - so surveillance would be a lot easier. No more pesky multiple providers to monitor, multiple data centers to maintain, disparate protocols to support. Sounds like Woz found a perfect place to move to. (Of course he could not just move to a house with broadband in US, that would..what, make sense?:) )
So what you are saying is that there are additional lifestyle choices I would need to make (like watching more video content and playing online games) to make full use of higher speeds? That can't be healthy, but oh well, I see your point.
On an end-user end - what exactly do you do with these speeds? I have fairly ho-hum Comcast running at about 15mbit/s. Frankly, I am not sure what to use that speed for. Web page opening speed is now governed by remote server processing capacity, files download instantly, movies stream (and in any case my movie consumption capacity is limited by low information to noise ratio:) ). What else? Am I missing something people really do with this?
I see stuff like that with Google maps all the time - incorrect locations, wrong names, finding things that you'd never consider looking for. Hardly much different from these. Want a simple example - just try to search for "MIA" on the maps.google.com , let me know what you find:)
Maps are that kind of a beast - they are a virtual and fairly static representation of our (very large and dynamic) world. Errors happen and will continue - no one is immune. Nothing to see here.
Google Earth is there, as well 100s (literally) of other mapping applications. It would be quite unusual to have Google maps singled out somehow but not any of the above. As far as availability - well, if it's not available Google will be the one to lose, but I'd be willing to bet a few $ that the app will be in appstore in due time.
Was Google banned from Appstore? If not, their mapping app will be (if not already) available as a free download for all.
Google stands to lose more in the long run than Apple from this. While I appreciated being able to use public transportation schedules in Bangkok and Hong Kong on my iPhone, that's a small convenience. At the same time having my location, movements and destinations sent to Google in exchange for this convenience is not particularly desirable. I went along with this for the lack of reasonable choice.
Now that a different mapping solution is available, my location will "only" be sent to Apple and their partners. As long as they don't sell this information to Google (that's what competition is good for) this is one less element of comprehensive profile on me that Google can build.
As far as features go, I am sure in time Apple's own maps will get public transportation info for other countries.
BTW, Google public transportation info was off quite a bit (both in US and elsewhere) making it sometimes less than useful. Hope Apple does better. As far as traffic goes, in my experience Google is wrong more often than not (other than generally painting everything yellow-red during rush hour, which is self-evident). They apparently use returned data from mapping apps on mobile devices to gauge traffic conditions (here, another reason they need app on iPhone) I stopped using their traffic information a while ago.
Disclaimer: I don't *like* any large enterprise or product. I use iPhone because it best fits my requirements for mobile device. I am also a Windows and Mac user, and develop software for Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and a few other platforms.:) In case any of the "anti apple" crowd pull out their usual fanboy slogans.
Oh, *that* was it? Slashdot editorial quality is in the toilet, really. I've come to accept incessant grammatical and spelling errors in summaries. But this is just lazy sloppy work. Please make a *summary* that is short, clear and explains why I should read the rest of the article.
Or, to put it in terms that even slashdot editor could understand: tl;dr;
The reason for that comes pretty much from definition of "conservative" as someone who sees the world as essentially a fixed given collection of objects and entities, rather than (perhaps also by definition of liberal) as a fluid, changing system. That explains the general lack of acceptance of science of evolution, climate change, variety of economic theories etc. etc among conservative constituency. Anything that is based on a premise that world around us is fluid and dynamic. I am sure there is a basic dna-level difference that predisposes human beings to take one of these two viewpoints (predominantly, as most people likely fall somewhere on the scale of rigid - dynamic).
This is a great argument. Unfortunately, once we are all moved to IPv6, and with help of IPv6 zealots who are against NAT privacy protection "on a principle" - each device behind home router will receive its very own unique IP (perhaps more than one, if temporary IPs are used, but certainly unique address). Once that is in place, the argument no longer holds and we are back to square one.
I certainly hope that Linux network stack crowd (because they are the ones whose product will be used, as is customary, in large chunk of wifi routers and other home network devices) will get something done before copyright holders wisen up, and poke Comcast/Cox cable/Verizon to roll out IPv6 to end users.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems like firing people is now a way of solving problems at Apple. I can't recall too many high profile firings during Steve Jobs tenure (may be I am not digging far enough, but still). Wonder what that means.
That said, primary failure of new Apple maps is not in what it does, but what it does not do. As driving maps go, they are fine. They have their share of errors, but so do Google maps. In fact just yesterday Google maps insisted that a whole block of streets was open and available for me to drive through, whereas in reality they are permanently blocked or do not exist (caused me to waste a good 30 minutes finding my way out). Checked on iPod at home with Apple maps, and it actually had them correctly shown as blocked. That's one advantage of using TomTom data which draws on crowd-sourced user corrections - changes are actually noted sooner.
However, lack of public transportation directions is a major dealbreaker for me. Along with lack of untethered jailbreak (though I can live without the latter) it's the reason I am holding off on buying iPhone 5. I can adjust to most other applications and changes - but there is no substitute out there for general purpose, universal public transportation directions like Google has.
Piecemeal solution of loading individual apps for various areas does not work both because it's: :)
- too much work to leave one app for another
- does not let me see these directions along with driving (what if I want to quickly compare which one's faster)
- Literally *all* of the 3rd party public transportation apps I tried (and that includes a number of major metropolitan areas in US) were complete and utter junk. They don't have to be, but then they'd have to basically become google maps
I also think at this point that Google is not going to be very forthcoming with their maps app for iOS6. I though differently before, since Google stands to lose quite a bit of tracking of Apple users. But now I happen to think they are ready to forgo this for a bigger prize. By withholding Google maps app they are able to slow adoption of iPhone 5 and other newer Apple hardware which is not available with older iOS. That's a direct hit at their competitor and they stand to gain some business that way (or other vendors of Android devices like Samsung, which still benefits Google). This way they make up lost tracking data and make more $$$ in the process.
So, my guess is - there may not be a Google maps app for iOS for a long time now. Time will tell.
Mod parent up.
What the hell? Is /. finally gone on Samsung payroll here? Srsly guys, try to at least *pretend* to report news. Also "anonymous" submitter? Is is email pr@samsung.com by any chance?
It's only a pilot program. As all things of the kind, their purpose is not only to test the process, but to acclimatize people to the new reality. In a little while new reality becomes "it's always been that way", and then they can move for wider application. And what better way to do so than to begin with school students. Why, you could then combine RFID databases between schools "for improved information sharing", then perhaps offer local malls, movie theaters etc. data for them to better gauge their audience or, better yet, "better protect children from inappropriate material" (oh, now we are talking). Then, as they grow up and graduate - why not join forces with a local college or university, public transportation, sports venues - you name it :) It's just a matter of time.
This type of tracking needs to be nipped in the bud, before it becomes the "new normal".
And btw, there is nothing reasonable about employees being tracked en-masse at office either. Technically, though, employees are there voluntarily and can leave at will. There is no such choice at school.
Since this is /., I am not quite sure how to react - perhaps someone will enlighten me?
Do we *like* the idea that a federal agency is taking online crime seriously and increasing its investigative efforts? Or do we decry even larger invasion of privacy by the lead-fisted government into private citizens lives? Assuming, of course, that any investigation of online crimes would have to at a very least get access to various online resources, logs and data, most likely not voluntarily shared by many parties who go to great lengths to be difficult to identify. You know what *that* means.
:) That's fine - uid is a good guide to /. longevity. As far as I recall, I resisted registering on /. until 1998/9 (seemed like a long time then :) ), been reading it virtually since day 1. Not that it matters here.
I am in the same boat wrt. to Apple use - I write cross-platform software (most Unices, Linux, Windows and Mac, and lately iOS too). Mac was first literally forced on my by work requirements about 5 years ago. Over time my personal use and even most development naturally shifted to Mac to the exclusion of others (I write Windows software in VMWare box on my Mac now :) ). "It's the worst system there is except for all the others".
To the topic - I think rationalization of hate may come in different forms. But that's all it is - it's a way for people who hate someone/something to bring quasi-logical explanation to their feelings. Hate by its very nature is not based on reason. I think on a most basic level it's simple - Apple is extremely successful and widely used now, just as Microsoft was back then. That's pretty much sufficient.
Personally, I can't hate Apple for that - they got where they are by building products that people like and use (including those, who like myself may not agree with their principles etc). There is nothing unfair about that, they won because they are good. It may pass as well - but for now this is it. Incidentally, this is where they are unlike M$, but that's beside the point.
Apple is what M$ was 10 years ago for /. current demographics - Evil Satan that can do no right.
As someone who has been on /. longer than that (and around technology of any kind even longer) - all I can say is "this too shall pass".
In the meantime, I think Apple did the right thing. Take it on the personal level. Let's say you feel someone wronged you. You go to court, try to correct the wrong, and court decides against you and (in your opinion, adding insult to injury) requires you to apologize to the party that offended you. How do you feel? Can you offer an honest apology? Why would you? Regardless of whether you agree or don't agree Samsung copied Apple. For the record, while I am not a big fan of Apple policies, I *do* feel that most manufacturers, including Samsung, are copying them. In these things the devil is in the details, and *imho* these details are what make Apple products convenient and others (Samsung) are convenient mostly as far as they follow these same details. Feel free to disagree.
And of course no discussion of British legal system and apologies is complete without this, which I find extremely pertinent: :) Linking here because youtube is misbehaving at the moment)
http://movieclips.com/CDHXP-a-fish-called-wanda-movie-upside-down-apology/
(Now you can tell how old I am
Anyone who thinks that his phone is "hacked" because he can't connect to wifi ap - definitely.
Or, as the case may be, iPhone/iPad. You are a perfect customer for Apple.
Time and experience are what proves products to be (or not to be) successful.
XP is successful by all accounts - it is relatively stable, productive, makes sense (more or less). The way to move users to a new system is to provide something those users *actually want*, without taking away things they already have. Simple, as soon as Microsoft does that - we'll all switch, voluntarily, and may be even give them some ca$h.
Personally, I won't move simply because I can't be sure binaries I build on Windows 7 will work on XP (yes, they "should" but I don't really care to try). That and XP had the last control panel that had some logic to the way things were laid out and grouped.
One is a popular device with millions of users and thousands of software titles. Another is essentially vaporware.
Let's wait till *each* proves itself in real world before making any other "comparisons".
*IANAL* of course.
Not everything written in an agreement will hold up in court, if/when tested. For example, you can't write an agreement that expressly violates laws. In particular, the purpose of class action suits is exactly to allow group action where individual "wrongs" are not large enough to prosecute, but combined are sufficiently big. Trying to circumvent the law the way PayPal is doing is by itself probably a good ground for a class action suit (but got to wait until some actual harm is done, afaik) :)
Conveniently, they are building out a single universal high speed network - so surveillance would be a lot easier. No more pesky multiple providers to monitor, multiple data centers to maintain, disparate protocols to support. :) )
Sounds like Woz found a perfect place to move to. (Of course he could not just move to a house with broadband in US, that would..what, make sense?
Do you suggest that they stop using computers (or, in general, any electronics) completely? That would be "survivalists" then.
Yes, and slashdot readers are a great source of news from Chinese sweatshop plants because demographics are, like, so close.
So what you are saying is that there are additional lifestyle choices I would need to make (like watching more video content and playing online games) to make full use of higher speeds? That can't be healthy, but oh well, I see your point.
On an end-user end - what exactly do you do with these speeds? I have fairly ho-hum Comcast running at about 15mbit/s. Frankly, I am not sure what to use that speed for. Web page opening speed is now governed by remote server processing capacity, files download instantly, movies stream (and in any case my movie consumption capacity is limited by low information to noise ratio :) ). What else? Am I missing something people really do with this?
You're doing it wrong, son. (c)
I see stuff like that with Google maps all the time - incorrect locations, wrong names, finding things that you'd never consider looking for. Hardly much different from these. :)
Want a simple example - just try to search for "MIA" on the maps.google.com , let me know what you find
Maps are that kind of a beast - they are a virtual and fairly static representation of our (very large and dynamic) world. Errors happen and will continue - no one is immune. Nothing to see here.
Google Earth is there, as well 100s (literally) of other mapping applications. It would be quite unusual to have Google maps singled out somehow but not any of the above.
As far as availability - well, if it's not available Google will be the one to lose, but I'd be willing to bet a few $ that the app will be in appstore in due time.
Was Google banned from Appstore? If not, their mapping app will be (if not already) available as a free download for all.
Google stands to lose more in the long run than Apple from this. While I appreciated being able to use public transportation schedules in Bangkok and Hong Kong on my iPhone, that's a small convenience. At the same time having my location, movements and destinations sent to Google in exchange for this convenience is not particularly desirable. I went along with this for the lack of reasonable choice.
Now that a different mapping solution is available, my location will "only" be sent to Apple and their partners. As long as they don't sell this information to Google (that's what competition is good for) this is one less element of comprehensive profile on me that Google can build.
As far as features go, I am sure in time Apple's own maps will get public transportation info for other countries.
BTW, Google public transportation info was off quite a bit (both in US and elsewhere) making it sometimes less than useful. Hope Apple does better. As far as traffic goes, in my experience Google is wrong more often than not (other than generally painting everything yellow-red during rush hour, which is self-evident). They apparently use returned data from mapping apps on mobile devices to gauge traffic conditions (here, another reason they need app on iPhone) I stopped using their traffic information a while ago.
Disclaimer: I don't *like* any large enterprise or product. I use iPhone because it best fits my requirements for mobile device. I am also a Windows and Mac user, and develop software for Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and a few other platforms. :) In case any of the "anti apple" crowd pull out their usual fanboy slogans.
Oh, *that* was it? Slashdot editorial quality is in the toilet, really. I've come to accept incessant grammatical and spelling errors in summaries. But this is just lazy sloppy work. Please make a *summary* that is short, clear and explains why I should read the rest of the article.
Or, to put it in terms that even slashdot editor could understand:
tl;dr;
The reason for that comes pretty much from definition of "conservative" as someone who sees the world as essentially a fixed given collection of objects and entities, rather than (perhaps also by definition of liberal) as a fluid, changing system. That explains the general lack of acceptance of science of evolution, climate change, variety of economic theories etc. etc among conservative constituency. Anything that is based on a premise that world around us is fluid and dynamic. I am sure there is a basic dna-level difference that predisposes human beings to take one of these two viewpoints (predominantly, as most people likely fall somewhere on the scale of rigid - dynamic).
The more of these garbage TLDs are registered, the more valuable becomes .com.
This is a great argument. Unfortunately, once we are all moved to IPv6, and with help of IPv6 zealots who are against NAT privacy protection "on a principle" - each device behind home router will receive its very own unique IP (perhaps more than one, if temporary IPs are used, but certainly unique address). Once that is in place, the argument no longer holds and we are back to square one.
I certainly hope that Linux network stack crowd (because they are the ones whose product will be used, as is customary, in large chunk of wifi routers and other home network devices) will get something done before copyright holders wisen up, and poke Comcast/Cox cable/Verizon to roll out IPv6 to end users.
And so Apple reinvented the corporate cafeteria. Strange, you'd think a company of their size would have one already.