Increased (and collective) competition from the likes of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Mapbox is starting to eat into Google’s lead in the map world, prompting Joe Morrison to predict that we’re “at the tail end of the golden era for Google Maps.” I am quite sure that all that data coming from Android devices still gives them some protection. This is worth a read.
Google Maps
The Bing of Maps
Seven years ago, Apple decided that it’d had enough of using Google’s mapping data. They realized that maps and mapping services were so strategic that they couldn’t really afford to depend on a smartphone rival. So, they began building their own, and in September 2012, the company launched Apple Maps. And if I am being honest, the program has always been akin to that baby face that only a mother can love.
When it launched, Apple Maps was widely panned for being inaccurate and missing key information. Google launched its own dedicated Google Maps for iOS three months later and has never looked back. Apple, on the other hand, has spent billions on Apple Maps in an effort to build a more accurate and rich experience. Yet, in many dense locations, like San Francisco Bay Area or the Big Apple, it still performs like the kid who got into the private school because their grandfather’s name was on one of the buildings. On sheer merit, Google Maps was and still is better. Continue reading “The Bing of Maps”
40 Kilometers
I am known to go to great lengths and even greater distances to meet great bootmakers and shoe stores of some repute. Most people make vacation itineraries around the idea of seeing ruins or really old buildings. I prefer shoes and fantastic food (in that order) to be my guiding light. Continue reading “40 Kilometers”
With Big Data Comes Big Responsibility
“You should presume that someday, we will be able to make machines that can reason, think and do things better than we can,” Google co-founder Sergey Brin said in a conversation with Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla. To someone as smart as Brin, that comment is as normal as sipping on his super-green juice, but … Continue reading With Big Data Comes Big Responsibility
Irreplaceable Places
An interactive guide to America’s National Parks is useful combination of text, photos and maps. Check it out. And then think about making this more visual, more alive and more real-time. How would we do that? I think maps as an interface to our real world is still a virgin territory for innovation. Google Maps new … Continue reading Irreplaceable Places