AAPL - Apple Inc.

[txlaw]

It's not a crisis (& is not anywhere near the antenna issue). Aside from bloggers looking for a story, everyone I've talked to (and on other forums) has said the app works well so far.

 

It's a crisis in terms of perception. Antenna gate itself turned out to be not a huge issue in the end. In reality, there are plenty of apps out there to fill in while Apple fixes its own app. However, every blogger out there knows Apple-bashing drives traffic, expect them to take full advantage of this.

 

Apple invests a lot in its brand, so something like this is a big cost for them.

 

Like I said, for Apple, this is a crisis. They value their brand the way Buffet values his reputation.

 

Tim Cook coming out with the apology and referring to competing offerings shows this. They also have a section right in front of the app store with a list of competitor mapping applications.

 

I was watching this whole thing to see if Tim Cook would manage it well. He did, with flying colors.

 

Completely agree.  I think Tim Cook is great.

 

I was referring to fanboys defending the maps app itself. 

[Guest valueInv]

It's not a crisis (& is not anywhere near the antenna issue). Aside from bloggers looking for a story, everyone I've talked to (and on other forums) has said the app works well so far.

 

It's a crisis in terms of perception. Antenna gate itself turned out to be not a huge issue in the end. In reality, there are plenty of apps out there to fill in while Apple fixes its own app. However, every blogger out there knows Apple-bashing drives traffic, expect them to take full advantage of this.

 

Apple invests a lot in its brand, so something like this is a big cost for them.

 

Like I said, for Apple, this is a crisis. They value their brand the way Buffet values his reputation.

 

Tim Cook coming out with the apology and referring to competing offerings shows this. They also have a section right in front of the app store with a list of competitor mapping applications.

 

I was watching this whole thing to see if Tim Cook would manage it well. He did, with flying colors.

 

Completely agree.  I think Tim Cook is great.

 

I was referring to fanboys defending the maps app itself.

 

I didn't see any of the so called fanboys defend the bugs. They (and I) think that it has some great features but everyone agrees that it is really buggy.

[txlaw]

It's not a crisis (& is not anywhere near the antenna issue). Aside from bloggers looking for a story, everyone I've talked to (and on other forums) has said the app works well so far.

 

It's a crisis in terms of perception. Antenna gate itself turned out to be not a huge issue in the end. In reality, there are plenty of apps out there to fill in while Apple fixes its own app. However, every blogger out there knows Apple-bashing drives traffic, expect them to take full advantage of this.

 

Apple invests a lot in its brand, so something like this is a big cost for them.

 

Like I said, for Apple, this is a crisis. They value their brand the way Buffet values his reputation.

 

Tim Cook coming out with the apology and referring to competing offerings shows this. They also have a section right in front of the app store with a list of competitor mapping applications.

 

I was watching this whole thing to see if Tim Cook would manage it well. He did, with flying colors.

 

Completely agree.  I think Tim Cook is great.

 

I was referring to fanboys defending the maps app itself.

 

I didn't see any of the so called fanboys defend the bugs. They (and I) think that it has some great features but everyone agrees that it is really buggy.

 

Yeah, you're probably right.  Nobody in their right mind could defend maps now that all of these bugs have really been fleshed out.  Yet I have heard fanboys saying, it's not that bad and Apple will fix it, and look at these great features!

 

I will give you credit though for acknowledging from the start that maps was a problem.  Good on you.

[Guest valueInv]

It's not a crisis (& is not anywhere near the antenna issue). Aside from bloggers looking for a story, everyone I've talked to (and on other forums) has said the app works well so far.

 

It's a crisis in terms of perception. Antenna gate itself turned out to be not a huge issue in the end. In reality, there are plenty of apps out there to fill in while Apple fixes its own app. However, every blogger out there knows Apple-bashing drives traffic, expect them to take full advantage of this.

 

Apple invests a lot in its brand, so something like this is a big cost for them.

 

Like I said, for Apple, this is a crisis. They value their brand the way Buffet values his reputation.

 

Tim Cook coming out with the apology and referring to competing offerings shows this. They also have a section right in front of the app store with a list of competitor mapping applications.

 

I was watching this whole thing to see if Tim Cook would manage it well. He did, with flying colors.

 

Completely agree.  I think Tim Cook is great.

 

I was referring to fanboys defending the maps app itself.

 

I didn't see any of the so called fanboys defend the bugs. They (and I) think that it has some great features but everyone agrees that it is really buggy.

 

Yeah, you're probably right.  Nobody in their right mind could defend maps now that all of these bugs have really been fleshed out.  Yet I have heard fanboys saying, it's not that bad and Apple will fix it, and look at these great features!

 

I will give you credit though for acknowledging from the start that maps was a problem.  Good on you.

 

I'll say what I've said before - its bad as a perception problem. It gives competitors and bloggers ammunition which, as I predicted, they took full advantage of. Apple has not been able to manage perceptions very well - a marketing problem. This is an "arrogant" company whose CEO has apologized and referred customers to competitors. Yet, "humble" companies like Google somehow never apologize for crappy products.

 

It is an inconvinience as a user problem. It means a user needs to click on a different maps application(such as Bing) instead of the default one. I already have Bing and Waze on my phone, for me, it means clicking on a different icon.

[Uccmal]

Apology in this case is meaningless BS.  They knowingly put out a crap product, and hoped that no one would get too upset.  They severely miscalculated how many people use and like Google Maps, despite its occassional flaws.

 

I have deliberately not loaded IOS 6 on my IPad, or my Wifes phone due to this issue.  10% of my total usage of this -ipad- device is mapping.  I cant afford Apples ineptitude and overt lying.

 

 

 

 

[Guest valueInv]

Apology in this case is meaningless BS.  They knowingly put out a crap product, and hoped that no one would get too upset.  They severely miscalculated how many people use and like Google Maps, despite its occassional flaws.

 

I have deliberately not loaded IOS 6 on my IPad, or my Wifes phone due to this issue.  10% of my total usage of this -ipad- device is mapping.  I cant afford Apples ineptitude and overt lying.

Too much work for you to tap on a Bing icon ?

[DCG]

Apology in this case is meaningless BS.  They knowingly put out a crap product, and hoped that no one would get too upset.  They severely miscalculated how many people use and like Google Maps, despite its occassional flaws.

 

I have deliberately not loaded IOS 6 on my IPad, or my Wifes phone due to this issue.  10% of my total usage of this -ipad- device is mapping.  I cant afford Apples ineptitude and overt lying.

 

Why don't you actually try the Apple maps app before ripping it apart? While it is in no way as robust and detailed as Google maps (and I agree, it should've been more refined before releasing it), it is not nearly as bad as most people are making it out to be. I used the turn-by-turn directions on a trip from Vermont to New Jersey last weekend, and it worked great. I was also talking to a couple friends last night who have the 5 and they also said the Maps app has worked fine for them. Despite it's shortcomings, I find it quicker and easier to get and directions than the old Google maps app.

[Uccmal]

Apology in this case is meaningless BS.  They knowingly put out a crap product, and hoped that no one would get too upset.  They severely miscalculated how many people use and like Google Maps, despite its occassional flaws.

 

I have deliberately not loaded IOS 6 on my IPad, or my Wifes phone due to this issue.  10% of my total usage of this -ipad- device is mapping.  I cant afford Apples ineptitude and overt lying.

Too much work for you to tap on a Bing icon ?

 

Sorry Valueinv, I thought your thesis around Apple was all about Ecosystem and ease of use.  They clearly put out an unfinished product... and then they Apologize?  I call BS this time. 

 

 

[kevin4u2]

Apology in this case is meaningless BS.  They knowingly put out a crap product, and hoped that no one would get too upset.  They severely miscalculated how many people use and like Google Maps, despite its occassional flaws.

 

I have deliberately not loaded IOS 6 on my IPad, or my Wifes phone due to this issue.  10% of my total usage of this -ipad- device is mapping.  I cant afford Apples ineptitude and overt lying.

 

Why don't you actually try the Apple maps app before ripping it apart? While it is in no way as robust and detailed as Google maps (and I agree, it should've been more refined before releasing it), it is not nearly as bad as most people are making it out to be. I used the turn-by-turn directions on a trip from Vermont to New Jersey last weekend, and it worked great. I was also talking to a couple friends last night who have the 5 and they also said the Maps app has worked fine for them. Despite it's shortcomings, I find it quicker and easier to get and directions than the old Google maps app.

 

This is getting ridiculous.  Are you in total denial?  They screwed up, denying reality won't change it.  If it's not that bad, why the public apology? 

 

How long did you wait in line for your iphone?

[DCG]

Did you even read my posts? I did not deny it has clearly has issues. All I have said (repeatedly) is that it is not as bad as people are making it out to be. Nearly everyone who has actually used the app will tell you this.

[Dash]

I agree with DCG.. I used the app for the last week and the interface and usability is far far superior to google maps. Once the

they fix the problems people will switch back. It's accurate throughout Southern California and I've had no problems with it.  I would never go back to google maps.

The phone itself is fantastic and I'm not surprised it's selling well.

[Ross812]

I have talked to several of my friends who downloaded ios6. Not one of them has complained about the mapping application. One of my friends who has a nexus 7 said Google's mapping app was better but the Apple app worked flawlessly. On a side note, out of the four people I talked to who had iPhones, two said they were switching to Android for their next phone. One said he was only continuing with the iPhone because of his grandfathered at & t unlimited plan. A very small sampling but telling none the least. Not one of them said they were particularly angry about any iPhone problems, they just wanted a change and some of the features (especially the huge screens) android phones offer appealed to them. I asked every one of them if they were worried about losing their paid apps; it was a non issue in every case.

[Guest valueInv]

I have talked to several of my friends who downloaded ios6. Not one of them has complained about the mapping application. One of my friends who has a nexus 7 said Google's mapping app was better but the Apple app worked flawlessly. On a side note, out of the four people I talked to who had iPhones, two said they were switching to Android for their next phone. One said he was only continuing with the iPhone because of his grandfathered at & t unlimited plan. A very small sampling but telling none the least. Not one of them said they were particularly angry about any iPhone problems, they just wanted a change and some of the features (especially the huge screens) android phones offer appealed to them. I asked every one of them if they were worried about losing their paid apps; it was a non issue in every case.

 

Surprisingly, consumer reports seems to agree:

 

http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/09/smart-phone-navigation-showdown-apple-ios6-vs-google-android.html

[mysticdrew]

One said he was only continuing with the iPhone because of his grandfathered at & t unlimited plan.

 

Someone should tell your friend he doesn't need to stay on Iphone to continue to be grandfathered into the at&t unlimited plan.  You can switch to any other smartphone and keep the unlimited.

[Ross812]

One said he was only continuing with the iPhone because of his grandfathered at & t unlimited plan.

 

Someone should tell your friend he doesn't need to stay on Iphone to continue to be grandfathered into the at&t unlimited plan.  You can switch to any other smartphone and keep the unlimited.

 

I'll let him know. He is under the impression he is under the 4-5 year old iPhone data plan which includes unlimited data.

[Liberty]

Going for vector graphics was a good idea. Wouldn't be surprised if google switched too at some point (they didn't start that way because it wasn't as big a deal on the desktop browser, but with mobile data rates, it matters more ).

 

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/report-ios-6-maps-is-data-efficient-compared-to-predecessor/

[rkbabang]

Going for vector graphics was a good idea. Wouldn't be surprised if google switched too at some point (they didn't start that way because it wasn't as big a deal on the desktop browser, but with mobile data rates, it matters more ).

 

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/report-ios-6-maps-is-data-efficient-compared-to-predecessor/

 

That might matter right now, but in the future as cost for bandwidth becomes cheaper and network speeds increase it will matter less and less.  That said, I just got my first tablet this week, an iPad 3, and I have to say I'm impressed so far.  The first thing I did was upgrade it to ios6 so I have no experience with ios5 to compare it to, but with less than one weeks use I don't see the problem with the maps app or see any big difference from using google maps on a browser.  The display really is impressive.  I've tried an iPad 2 before for an hour or so and you really can tell the difference in the display.

[Liberty]

That might matter right now, but in the future as cost for bandwidth becomes cheaper and network speeds increase it will matter less and less.

 

Yes and no. Bandwidth for smartphones will be tight because there's just so much radio frequency open right now and the number of smartphones is going up rapidly and the data-transfer usage per phone is also going up fast. So savings are important.

 

On the desktop it matters a lot less.

[Guest valueInv]

They're beginning to fix it pretty quickly:

 

http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/05/apple-improves-maps-new-york-city/

 

This was what I was hoping to see.

[Guest valueInv]

Going for vector graphics was a good idea. Wouldn't be surprised if google switched too at some point (they didn't start that way because it wasn't as big a deal on the desktop browser, but with mobile data rates, it matters more ).

 

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/report-ios-6-maps-is-data-efficient-compared-to-predecessor/

 

That might matter right now, but in the future as cost for bandwidth becomes cheaper and network speeds increase it will matter less and less.  That said, I just got my first tablet this week, an iPad 3, and I have to say I'm impressed so far.  The first thing I did was upgrade it to ios6 so I have no experience with ios5 to compare it to, but with less than one weeks use I don't see the problem with the maps app or see any big difference from using google maps on a browser.  The display really is impressive.  I've tried an iPad 2 before for an hour or so and you really can tell the difference in the display.

 

Operators are slowly forcing customers off unlimited plans. The cost of bandwidth will probably matter more than it has in the past.

[beerbaron]

Going for vector graphics was a good idea. Wouldn't be surprised if google switched too at some point (they didn't start that way because it wasn't as big a deal on the desktop browser, but with mobile data rates, it matters more ).

 

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/report-ios-6-maps-is-data-efficient-compared-to-predecessor/

 

That might matter right now, but in the future as cost for bandwidth becomes cheaper and network speeds increase it will matter less and less.  That said, I just got my first tablet this week, an iPad 3, and I have to say I'm impressed so far.  The first thing I did was upgrade it to ios6 so I have no experience with ios5 to compare it to, but with less than one weeks use I don't see the problem with the maps app or see any big difference from using google maps on a browser.  The display really is impressive.  I've tried an iPad 2 before for an hour or so and you really can tell the difference in the display.

 

Operators are slowly forcing customers off unlimited plans. The cost of bandwidth will probably matter more than it has in the past.

 

Funny, about a year ago people were saying RIM made a strategic mistake in investing so much in compression. Sooner or later carriers will be happy to see that compression come back!

 

BeerBaron

[jjsto]

I asked every one of them if they were worried about losing their paid apps; it was a non issue in every case.

 

My problem is I have been stuck in the apple ecosystem for a while now.  Losing my paid apps wouldnt be a big deal by itself on the cell phone side, but it is integrated with my ipad, macbook, mac mini, and desktop at work.  The hassle of just switching the cell phone wouldnt be worth the marginal benefit of a larger screen, plus having to migrate everything to android. 

[Ross812]

I can see your point. Two of the three were engineers who use windows for everything at work. The overall switched ng cost wouldn't be that unmanagable for them. It seems like apples moat is increased by the number of apple devices in the users hand and not really the ecosystem. Device integration across the os is Apple's real moat. I wonder if they could sacrifice a portion of their margin in the future and offer discounts on an additional advice with purchase. Say buy an iPad and get $200 off and power book....

[Guest valueInv]

I can see your point. Two of the three were engineers who use windows for everything at work. The overall switched ng cost wouldn't be that unmanagable for them. It seems like apples moat is increased by the number of apple devices in the users hand and not really the ecosystem. Device integration across the os is Apple's real moat. I wonder if they could sacrifice a portion of their margin in the future and offer discounts on an additional advice with purchase. Say buy an iPad and get $200 off and power book....

 

I have made this point. You can see them strengthening this moat: iCloud, passbook, photos, Game Center, iMessage, tighter integration between devices, focus on building platforms, etc. Most of their new features are directed towards this.

[Guest valueInv]

Going for vector graphics was a good idea. Wouldn't be surprised if google switched too at some point (they didn't start that way because it wasn't as big a deal on the desktop browser, but with mobile data rates, it matters more ).

 

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/report-ios-6-maps-is-data-efficient-compared-to-predecessor/

 

That might matter right now, but in the future as cost for bandwidth becomes cheaper and network speeds increase it will matter less and less.  That said, I just got my first tablet this week, an iPad 3, and I have to say I'm impressed so far.  The first thing I did was upgrade it to ios6 so I have no experience with ios5 to compare it to, but with less than one weeks use I don't see the problem with the maps app or see any big difference from using google maps on a browser.  The display really is impressive.  I've tried an iPad 2 before for an hour or so and you really can tell the difference in the display.

 

Operators are slowly forcing customers off unlimited plans. The cost of bandwidth will probably matter more than it has in the past.

 

Funny, about a year ago people were saying RIM made a strategic mistake in investing so much in compression. Sooner or later carriers will be happy to see that compression come back!

 

BeerBaron

 

1, There are many options for compression that are not device specific. See http://www.onavo.com

2, In the age of unlimited plans, they wanted compression. Now with pay-for-use plans, they want you to use more data so that they ca charge you more. When data plan adoption saturates, their revenue growth will come form increased usage. That is why they are so desperate to move people off unlimited plans.