duckdive wrote:
Had these people been using ios5, they would have been using google maps. This would not have been a story. The reason it would not be a story is because Google Maps would have safely taken them to their destination in Mildura.
So will Apple Maps. The only reason this is an issue is because a handful of people searched for driving directions to "Mildura" and never bothered to double-check when the pavement ended. Had they actually provided an address, or even a postal code, it would have worked properly.
This is definitely a bug in Apple's maps. If you search for a word like "Mildura" it will return the best match it can find given the information you have provided. In this special case, the best match happens to be the "Mildura Shire" administrative area, similar to a US county. Apple returns this area as a point located in the middle. That's wrong. Google does better because it usually includes the boundaries of such areas. Both Apple and Google will allow directions to such a centrepoint, which is also wrong. Imagine if you asked your GPS to take you to "New York" and it took you to 26 miles southwest of Utica. Technically that is correct, but useless. For the specific case of Mildura, that is what is happening.
Apple knows about such problems and that is the basis for the apology. Technically, Apple Maps is working perfectly. Neither Australian police nor motorists should be expected to have to deal with these GIS details. They should be able to just enter "Mildura" and be taken to where they really want to go.
Does this mean Apple Maps is a toy and is not fit for reliable navigation purposes? Of course not. To date, far more people have gotten themselves stranded and even killed by relying on Google Maps and other GPS devices. Apple knows it needs to do better than the competition because people expect Apple to be the best.
