Tim Cook’s apology for Maps is nuanced and smart
Apple CEO Tim Cook has apologised for Maps. The response to his letter has been varied. Some have said Jobs would never have apologised (they’re wrong), and my Twitter feed was full of people claiming Cook wasn’t really apologising, or that he should have done something more.
I’d say anyone expecting some kind of grovelling apology combined with no positive spin whatsoever is being naïve, not only from an expectation standpoint regarding what Apple should or would do, but from what any company would do. What we got from Cook was instead a mostly unambiguous statement and apology, with a little added reasoning, and something that I consider a major surprise that few rival corporations would do.
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.
The main apology. Right to the point, and admitting Apple fell short of the quality you’d expect. This is beyond what many companies would bother with.
We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.
More or less the “Google wouldn’t give us…” bit, but it outlines and confirms Apple’s reasoning. Fair enough, but I’ll bet Eric Schmidt wasn’t happy with this.
There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.
Outlining the fact not everyone thinks Maps is a disaster. From what I’m hearing, the experience isn’t globally awful, just massively inconsistent. So: a bit of positive spin, which you’d expect. What I’d never have expected is this:
While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.
Reread that paragraph. There’s Cook, in a public letter, providing information about five rivals. I cannot think of anything similar from other tech giants. (If you can, let me know in the comments.) On Twitter, a couple of people noted Waze is one of the companies providing Apple with data, but I don’t think that’s really relevant. Apple’s essentially saying that if Maps is screwing up your experience, try an alternative. Of course, this in itself is nuanced: “Our platform has such richness that if you don’t like our solution, you can try another.”
One thought: had Google actually had its own Maps app ready at this point, would it have been included in this statement that’s now big news worldwide?
Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.
Here’s hoping, but I feel a little more optimistic about Maps now. Time will tell if Apple can deliver on this promise
“Our platform has such richness that if you don’t like our solution, you can try another.”
Except, he knows very well that you can’t change your default Map client. He has that in his back pocket. They won’t change that, and this situation is great example of why it’s so important that they should let users make their own choice for email, maps and the browser on the phone.
I agree that this apology was well crafted, and that they understand how critical mistake was. They won’t cede control of the default though, and that’s a big problem for the platform.
Re Robert’s comments above – I don’t follow. I have a bunch of default apps on my phone in a folder called ‘Crap’ that sits about 4 screens over from the main screen – I’ve filled my first screen with apps I want and chucked the defaults where I won’t see them.
I can’t see why having default apps is a problem – Apple isn’t banning apps that compete with default apps, apart from the phone app probably because of carrier restrictions.
What am I missing?
Not allowing competing apps would see Apple hit with the kind of antitrust lawsuit that saw Microsoft have to allow Windows a choice of browser and pay huge fines for bundling IE with Windows.
A very smart move from Tim Cook, this apology.
When you open any kind of Web link, it opens Safari. There’s no way to change that.
When you open a mail link, it opens the Apple Mail Client, there’s no way to change that.
I thought that was pretty straightforward, sorry for not being more explicit.